The Family
by 26Chocolates
Summary: DISCONTINUED Age old story- Lily hates James, James loves Lily. How did James win her heart in a world of love, heartbreak and horror? Well, never fear... this is Hogwarts. Anything can happen.
1. The Train

This is not only a story of love. It's a story of death, friendships, humor, betrayal, questions, mysteries, and heroism.

It's the story of four boys. One, spoiled, the apple of his parent's eyes. Another, treated horribly as a child and recklessly wild. The third, marked by a curse. The fourth... awkward and silent, not really fitting in.

It's a story of six girls. One ordinary, made to be extraordinary. The second cheerful and bashful. The next three, doomed to be compared to one another. One shines, one hides, and one is polar opposite of the other two. The sixth had a life torn by misery, with even more ahead.

It's a story of family.

oOoOoOoOo

Sirius Black, fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was a slight peeved. His younger brother Regulus was starting school, and Sirius was given instructions to keep an eye on him, make sure he's on the train. Or else.

Now, he normally didn't listen to his parents, but his father was feeling nasty that morning, and gave Sirius a preview of what would happen is 'Reggie' got lost.

Swearing under his breath, Sirius pushed through the crowd on Platform 9/3, hoping that he could see a little devil with black hair and grey eyes. "If only James was here... he's probably on the train, that bugger." He thought.

"Mudblood, watch where you're going!" a snotty voice rang out.

Sirius thought at once, "Bingo," and then, realizing that the kid spat something back at his brother, "Shit."

"Maybe if you didn't hold your head so damn high!" a small girl with long brown hair crossed her arms.

"Well I, unlike you, are a Pureblood, and don't have to answer the requests of Mudbloods." Regulus Black spat back.

"Hey, Reg." Sirius slid in front of his brother. "What's going on?"

"I was about to ask the same thing, _Black_" A tall man walked over and knelt down to the little girl.

Sirius gulped. He recognized this guy. He was an Auror, and from what Sirius had heard from his father, a muggleborn one. He was certain that the little girl would make up some lie and her father (brother?) would pound him to soup.

"That boy," the little girl started, "Knocked into me and sent my things flying. Then he called me a Mudblood, 'cause I asked him if this was the Platform, and then decided to say he didn't have to do anything that I asked him to do because he was a Pureblood."

"Reg, go on the train. Your stuff's already on, you brat." Sirius said with disdain, already expecting a punch.

"Wait 'till Mother hears about this!" Reg ran on the train nonetheless. Sirius turned to leave when he felt a hand on his shoulders, and winced.

It was the tall guy. "Can you make sure my little sister gets to Hogwarts without getting into any trouble? She has a bit of a temper..."

"Er... what?"

"Black, my little sister just insulted a future Slytherin, and I know you're one of the better Black's, so I decided to ask, and yeah. Just keep an eye on her until she gets off the train, okay?" The man leaned down and flexed one of his arms menacingly.

"Sure..." Sirius said.

"Bye Richard!" The girl hugged her brother around the neck tightly. "I'll write tonight."

"Bye, Evan. Don't hesitate to write every single day." Richard said.

Sirius waited awkwardly as they finished their goodbyes, and led the girl onto the train. "Who names a girl Evan? Honestly... parents..." he thought.

"Sirius! Sirius! Wait for me!" a small blond boy ran up to the two.

"Hullo, Peter. Where's Jamie and Remy?" Sirius muttered.

"Who's she?" Peter asked.

"A girl whos freaky brother asked me to watch over. So where's Jamie and Remy?"

"Oh yeah, this way!" Peter ran down the halls.

"Oh bloody hell; this day just keeps getting better." Sirius groaned. "Come on, Evan."

"My name's not Evan."

"Whatever, come on." Sirius ran after Peter, with 'Evan' running after him.

oOoOoOoOo

Lily Evans sat bored in her compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Brushing her red hair from her eyes, she saw that three of her best friends were with her. May Zelan, with her extremely long black hair and deep brown eyes speckled with blue, was stunning. Except nobody ever saw that part of May. They only saw her as a smart girl, triplet sisters with two of the hottest girls of Hogwarts. May was currently sitting across from Lily, reading, her Hogwarts robes already on, Gryffindor emblem on her chest standing out amidst the black.

Alice Carroll was sitting next to May. Her round, happy face framed by dirty-blond hair. Another Gryffindor, she wasn't the smartest, in most subjects, but excelled in Charms and Herbology. Though she was talking about Quidditch, Lily could see all she was thinking about was Frank Longbottom, a Griffindor boy in fourth year, same as Lily and her friends.

She was talking to June Zelan, another third of the Zelan triplets. She was the outspoken one of the three. Her black hair stopped at her back, and she had blue eyes speckled with brown (they aren't identical triplets), but that was all she shared with her sisters. Her long bangs were dyed (magically, of course, she was half-blood) bright yellow and red. Her nails were painted in rainbow shades. She was once caught in a broom closet with Peter Pettigrew, one of the Marauders. What June saw in him, nobody knew. But she wasn't the jump-from-one-guy-to-the-next girl. She liked her relationships to last a month or two. But June was in Hufflepuff, so Lily guessed that made her different then the Gryffindor girls and their tastes.

"No way Wasps could of gotten to third place in the standings withough magical means! The Harpies are so much better, and they only got fourth!" Alice exclaimed.

"No! The Wasps can beat the Harpies any day!" June said.

"Do you guys even know what a Harpie _is?_" May asked.

"May, these are the girls who thought a spork was a lazy way to say 'salted pork.'" Lily joked.

"Don't forget April."

The door opened with a loud sliding. "She could never forget me, May! I'm the sunshine of her life!" April Zelan burst in, clearly happy about something. April Zelan was, of course, the third Zelan triplet. She was random at times, but guys could look over that. Mainly all they looked at her was to invite her to a broom closet or the nearest empty classroom. Short, spunky black hair spun wildly as she bounced in, her blue eyes shining. Her spinning began to make everybody slightly queasy watching her. She was Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and a few Bludgers to the head probably caused this behaviour.

"Of course, April. Because her eyes just light up when she sees you," June said dryly.

"No! They only shine for her Jamie!" April stopped spinning and put her hand to her heart. "Oh my, I'm Miss Lillian Elizabeth Evans and I hate James Potter, but I really love him!"

Alice grinned and put her arm around Lily in a clear impersonation of James. "Oh Evans, you light up my life! _I, _James Harold Potter, want to marry you!"

April let off a high pitched giggle. "Of course, Jamie, you sizzly piece of man-flesh!"

May hid her face in her book. "Tell me that when I take this book away, I will be in France, with respectable sisters and a really hot boyfriend."

April and June kneeled infront of their sister and grabbed the book. "Sorry love, you're stuck with us!" June said while April leafed through the book, and cleared her throat.

"Dear Diary,

I'm off to Hogwarts! It's fourth year, and I'm terribly excited." Apirl made a face. "April isn't in the compartment, of course, probably snogging some guy senseless. Alice and June are bickering about Quidditch, Lily's daydreaming. How do I know? Her eyes glaze over, and sorta become a different shade of green. I missed all of this. And the Marauders, of course. Remus, Sirius, James and Peter. Remus... OMIGOSH. I just remembered! At the end of third year, he asked me if he could meet me on the first Friday of fourth year at the lake! I said yes! I'm so-"

"So what?" Lily asked, peering around April's shoulder.

"Theres a big line of ink." Alice said.

"No duh, guys, that's when you interrupted me." May grumbled, blushing slightly.

"So... you like Remus?" April asked.

Blushing, May nodded.

"That's great! A double wedding!" April squealed.

The door opened slightly, and two people stuck their heads in.

"Double wedding? For who?" Sirius Black asked.

"James, and Lily, of course!" Alice said, avoiding the book that Lily threw.

"Who else?" Asked Peter Pettigrew.

"May and Remus!" April exclaimed happily.

"APRIL!" May screamed and dove for her dim-witted sister.

"We just need some mud." Sirius remarked.

"For what, Black?" Lily asked.

"Hello, it's a catfight! WITH TWO TRIPLETS!" Sirius clapped his hands, then slowed when he saw the murderous glares being sent by all the fourth-year girls. "Erm... Peter, lead away! To Jamie! And Remy! Come, Evan!" Him and Peter began sprinting down the hallway, revealing 'Evan'.

"My name's not Evan." She said to the girls, then looking down at May, she asked, "So I take it you like Remus, whoever he is?"

"Yeah..." May blushed slightly.

"You don't tackle her!" April pouted from the headlock May put her in.

"That's 'cause I'm a first-year. And pretty cute." The first-year said happily.

"Well... what's your name?"

"EVAN! COME ON!" Sirius' voice bellowed.

"Sorry, gotta jet!" Evan, or whatever her name is, ran off screaming, "My name's NOT EVAN!"

June coughed. "That was... odd."

"Tell me about it." Lily moaned.

oOoOoOoOo

"I found him, guys!" Peter announced, his short blonde hair just reaching his gray-blue eyes. Panting, he added, "He also has a guest."

"Oh, really? I don't see him, or the guest!" James Potter stood up. "The train left 10 minutes ago. Where is he?" Running his hand through messy black hair, he paced. He took off his glasses, cleaned them with his shirt, and put them back on, his brown eyes looking confused through the glass. He was tall for fourteen, but pretty nimble. You had to be, if you wanted to be a Seeker on a Quidditch team.

"James, relax. Probably got 'distracted' by some third-years." Remus Lupin stood up as well, the tallest of the four boys. Hair that was a mix of brown and sandy-blond showed look dull against his bright blue-green eyes. He was the smart one of the boys, the quiet one. James was the sporty jokester. Sirius was the pranking, random, childish at times ladykiller. Peter was the glue that stuck them together, with some surprisingly good ideas, though his head could probably be the top part of a hot-air balloon.

"No I didn't." Sirius walzted in, a disgruntled first year behind him. "Evan didn't want to leave the girls, but her brother freaks the living hell out of me."

'Evan' threw herself on a chair and sighed. "He's overprotective. There is a ten year difference between us, after all. And my name's not Evan!"

"There's overprotective and there's obsessing." Sirius said. "I swear, he's a more normal version of Hulk Hogan! Just brown hair, blue eyes, tall, and not TOO muscular, just enough to scare a guy."

"Sirius, what did he do?" Remus asked, shaking his head.

"He asked is I could escort Evan here-"

"MY NAME'S NOT EVAN!" The first year screamed, her hair turning a fiery red.

"Holy shit!" James shouted. Remus blinked a few times, backing away slowly, Sirius hid behind James, and Peter excused himself to go to the boy's room.

The little girl blushed, and turned very shy. "S-sorry... it's just I don't like it when people don't listen to me after a while, and I did tell him."

Remus groaned slightly. "How many times?"

"Four or five." She answered.

James sat next to her, and noticed her hair was deep brown again. "So what IS your name?"

"Anne Heart." Anne said. "You can call me Annie, if you ever need to."

"Wait... so why did your brother call you Evan?" Sirius asked, feeling like a moron.

"My middle name." Annie shrugged.

"Your middle name's Evan?" James asked.

"It's Evangeline." Annie shrugged.

"That's a mouthful," Peter said, in the doorway. "But still...why Evan?"

"My brother's fiancee's name is Annie. He doesn't want anybody to get confused. He's an Auror, not a rockect scientist."

James put an arm around her. "So, Anne Evangeline Heart, I have an offer."

She looked at him oddly, and said, "As long as it's not ways to win a certain redheaded green-eyed Gryffindor."

James laughed. "No, not like that. Just thinking, guys, don't we need a small kid to fit into small spaces? Pranks against Slytherins, and such."

Annie rolled her eyes. "I might be Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, and double-cross you."

Remus let out a bark of laughter. "If only it was that easy. The hat told me I'd be good in Ravenclaw, but suit better for Gryffindor. I begged him for Gryffindor. It seems he favors us. If only I knew I'd be with these three guys for the next seven years."

"And Frank!" Peter chipped in.

"Yes, Frank. If he graduates with his brains undamaged I'd be amazed." Remus sighed. "He's sweet on Alice."

Sirius' and Annie's eyes lit up. James was shocked on how similar they looked when they got an idea.

"Remy, I heard news from a little bird!" Sirius got up and danced around Remus, who looked distusted.

"So did I, Remus, I know who's sweet on YOU!" Annie danced with Sirius.

Peter watched in amazement. He nudged James, saying, "They could be twins. Look at them!"

"I know," James whispered back. "It's scary."

"Her name just rolls off the tounge, does it not, Annie?" Sirius pranced.

"Indeed it does, Sirius, named after a marvelous month!" Annie laughed.

"Shes a marveling magestic mystery!" Sirius proclaimed.

Remus shook his head. "I'm sorry guys, but I'm meeting May on Friday, and I won't have any time for this marveling magestic mystery named after a marvelous month."

Annie gaped. Sirius froze in shock. "YOU NITWIT!" They screamed together. "IT'S MAY!"

"She has a good chunk of her diary dedicated to you, Mister." Annie added.

Remus stared. "I know, I know she agreed to meet me, but I thought maybe she pitied me, or something, and wow. Wow."

Sirius leaned over and whispered to Annie, "He's lost his marbles."

She nodded. "He's off his rocker. Completely insane."

"So..." Sirius sighed.

"Can you guys tell me people I should know at Hogwarts?" Annie asked.

James smirked. "Let me tell you about Severus Snape."

"Or Snivellus, as we call him." Peter added.

"He's a greasy slimeball obsessed with dark arts and curses. And hates muggleborns." Sirius chimed in.

Annie's eye's darkened, which made Sirius at her differently for a second. She did have long brown hair, but it was very dark. Her brother had light brown hair, nearly blond. His hair was curly. Her's was pretty strait. He had tanned skin, her's was like snow, with a few freckles on her nose. The only thing that he saw in common was their eyes. Blue like a river, with a ring of dark blue around the outside and a ring of brown, almost gold, on the inside surrounding the pupil. But unlike her face, her eyes told him everything. He could look at them forever.

"Sirius?" James asked. "What do you think?"

Sirius shook himself. "What?"

"Annie said that we should dye his hair blond, and curly and long, then transfigure his outfit into a ballerina's tutu, and make the spell last a day! If anybody tries undoing it, it happens to them too!" Peter said excitedly.

Sirius looked at Annie again. She looked back up at him. He put an arm around her shoulder. "Kid, you're gonna go far."

Nobody saw the Marauders for the rest of the ride, but occasionally heard crazed laughter coming from their compartment, then a small voice saying, "Geez Si, you've gone nuts!"


	2. The Sorting and The Feast

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters mentioned in the books, movies, or any other fan stuff. If I did, that would be pretty sick. But I don't. :D Enjoy!

oOoOoOoOo

Lily woke up from her nap with a loud laughing noise coming from a few compartments down, to find that the little first year was staring at her, and there was nobody else in the compartment.

"We just got to Hogwarts." She said, handing Lily her robes. "Nobody's off yet, still unloading some of the luggage."

"Uh, thanks?" Lily was sort of freaked out the first year had her robes. "Where are my friends?"

"In the boy's compartment. With James, Si, Remus and Peter. They gave me your robes, and told me to wait." A line of frustration appeared above her brows. "The guys, in other words, kicked me out. I think Si's exact words were, 'Look, Lily needs some company. Go.' And then, he sort of pushed me out."

"Si...? Sirius, you mean?" Lily asked. Nobody ever called Sirius Black something as innocent as Si.

"Yeah... I guess he wanted some time with April or something." The little girl shrugged, and opened the door, and walked down the hallway to get off the train.

"Wait... what?"

oOoOoOoOo

Later, in the Great Hall, all the staff and students were assembled. Students were sitting in their houses. Gryffindor, the bold and the brave. Hufflepuff, hardworking and loyal. Ravenclaw, the studious and witty. And finally, Slytherin, the sly and sneaky. Some students were talking, some were daydreaming, and the rest was waiting for the Sorting to start and finish, so they could eat the marvelous food that the House-Elves of Hogwarts could provide them.

Some of the latter included Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew.

"James!" Sirius hissed.

"What?" James hissed back.

"Think I was too hard on Annie earlier?" Sirius asked, face thoughtful.

Remus whirled his head away, from where he was watching May. "She nearly broke into tears when you shoved her out. And why do you care, anyways?"

Sirius looked at his hands like a puppy. "I don't know. She... I don't know. I just feel like I can relate to her... somehow..."

Peter stared at him. "Sirius, you're fourteen. She's eleven. I don't think she is interested."

"Not like that!" Sirius exclaimed.

Just as James was about to tell them to shut up, the doors to the Great Hall opened. Professor McGonagall walked in, with all the first-years following her. Sirius spotted Annie whispering to a boy, who had red-brown hair which was spiked. He felt a surge of protection and rage run through him. He also noticed Remus waving to a small girl with long blonde hair done in a braid. When Remus noticed Sirius staring at him, he mouthed the words, "She's my cousin."

McGonagall walked to the front of the room, and put a rather old hat on a stool.

It opened a flap, and began to sing.

"Put me on your head  
I'll tell you where you belong  
But only if you promise  
To listen to my song.

I know it's hard to believe  
But I was here a thousand years ago  
And observed the four founders  
Work through blazing heat and freezing snow.

The first was Gryffindor, brave and fiery  
Yet somewhat cold at heart  
Being daring and courageous  
Will set Gryffindor's apart.

Next was Helga Hufflepuff  
Who worked through her toil,  
She taught her little Hufflepuff's,  
To be hard working and loyal.

Third was Rowena Ravenclaw,  
Who was studious and smart.  
Intelligence and logic,  
Resides in a Ravenclaw's heart.

Lastly was Salazar Slytherin,  
Who was cunning and sly,  
Slytherins can always tell  
If there's something awry.

Now you kept your promise,  
So I'll keep mine  
Just put me on your head,  
Your house, I will decide!"

Remus bit his lip. "Mine and decide don't rhyme." he muttered to Peter.

"Yeah, I know, but he was close." Peter whispered back.

McGonagall opened a large scroll, and said, "Juliet Adasy!"

The girl with the blond braid walked up and sat on the stool, and McGonagall put the hat on her head. There was a few minutes of silence, and then...  
"GRYFFINDOR!"

Juliet took the hat off and ran to sit at an empty end of the Griffindor table, to a small applause.

"Adam Aterick!"

A slightly chubby boy ran up to the stool. There was only a few seconds of silence, and then the hat screamed "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Adam ran, and nearly tripped, to sit next to June at the Hufflepuff table.

"Melanie Averbi!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Tristan Ban!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Regulus Black!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

James had stopped paying attention and began to look around. He saw Lily, and his heart swooped, with her friends. He saw Juliet, Remus' cousin, sitting at the end of the table with Tristan. He saw Sirius glaring at a tall boy with spiky red-brown hair who hadn't been sorted yet. James gave a laugh when he realised why. The boy was staring admirably at Annie. James was about to tell Peter when he noticed Regulus giving him the evil eye. Drumming his fingers on the table, he waited until he heard the name that would snap Sirius out of he delirium.

"Anne Heart!"

Annie walked nervously up to the stool. 'Relax, Annie. You'll do fine! Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff can't be that bad, right? I mean, it's better then Slytherin.' she thought. Sitting on the stool, she felt the hat cover her eyes and ears, and heard a small voice. _"This, this is interesting"_ it said. _"You're very loyal, very trustworthy, but I don't think Hufflepuff is right for you. You have intelligence and logic, but Ravenclaw doesn't seem to fit right, either. You're also cunning, but Slytherin is out of the question!" _The hat gave a little laugh. _"Yes, I can you brimming with courage. So, I suppose, that the only proper place for you is..."_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Taking the hat off, she sighed. She gave a broad smile to McGonagall, and began to skip/run to the Griffindor table. Noticing Sirius was smiling and clapping, she ignored him, and sat next to Juliet, across from Tristan, who winked.

"Ignore him," Juliet said. "He's a friend of my family, and he's a player. As much as a player he could be with that guy shooting every guy who looks at you oddly dirty looks."

Annie buried her face in her hands, groaning.

From the middle of the table, April said, "Annie looks unhappy. Think she's okay?"

Lily nodded, absorbed in the sorting. May snorted, and tapped her fingers on the table. Alice shook her head.

"Sirius treated her like crap earlier. I think they both feel bad. Besides, Sirius is shooting most of the first and second year boys dirty looks."

April scratched her head. "Why?"

"They're staring at her, April. Specially that boy over there."

"Which?"

"Owen LaBrave!" McGonagall said.

"That one who just got called up. Spiky redish hair." Alice said.

Then, at the other end of the table...

"Owen LaBrave!"

"It's that guy that was staring at Annie!" Sirius hissed.

"Grow a backbone, Sirius. You're acting like her big brother, or something." James moaned.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"He's walking towards her!" Sirius hit his head on the table.

"She looks pretty happy that he's sitting next to her." Peter remarked.

"Shut up, Peter. I hate you right now. I hate every frickin male looking at her!" Sirius groaned.

"Remus, help me here. He's hopeless!" James cried out.

"Sirius, don't be such a drama queen. Worry about Regulus. He seems peeved that she wasn't sent back home." Remus said calmly.

"No, I think he has miniature hearts in his eyes right now looking at her." Peter said, using his wonderful observation skills.

"Oh my god, he does!" James said, playing along.

Sirius groaned again, hitting his head on the table. "Wake me up when this hell is over."

Rolling his eyes, Remus whispered, "He's so melodramatic."

"I've never seen him like this," James muttered. "I think he's lost it."

"Maybe he saw something we didn't?" Peter asked.

James nodded, looking over at Lily again, and sighed. Her eyes were the windows to her heart. Her beautiful, bright green eyes. He did anything to get her eyes to light up, with anger or with happiness. It was normally with anger, though.

Remus nudged Peter and said, "He's gone Lily-Lala again."

James sighed and whispered, "Her eyes, her eyes. That hair."

"By the way Peter, nice trick on Sirius' mind about Regulus." Remus said, thinking.

"But, it wasn't a trick. I swear I saw little hearts in his eyes!"

"Sure, Peter." Remus winked.

Slowly, and surely, time passed. After the final student was called up, Mary-Jo Zacharias (Ravenclaw), Dumbledore stood up.

"Evening, students. I would like to welcome you all to a new year at Hogwarts. But this is not a time for making a speech. That time is later. Now, is the time for the feast. Enjoy!"

"About bloody time!" Sirius said happily.

"Ah, Hogwarts food, how I missed you so!" Peter cried.

"Peter, I've said it once, and I'll say it again, you like the food here way too much." Frank Longbottom said from a couple people down.

James nodded, still staring at Lily. She, unfortunately for him, looked up and saw him, and flipped him off.

"He's still staring!" Lily said, cringing.

"Pah! We all know you want to have love-babies with him." April said, waving a spoon full of mashed potatoes in her face.

"The day I want to have love-babies with him is the day you're caught in a closet with Sirius Black!" Lily snapped, and began to fill her mouth with food to stop herself from saying anything else.

May looked up from her shepard's pie and said, "She's got you there, April."

April growled. "The day I'm caught in a closet with Sirius Black is the day Annie makes out with that guy, Owen!"

June, who was walking by, asked, "So tomorrow then?"

April whirled around to face her sister. "Say WHAT?"

June laughed. "He's nearly drooling over her. See?"

Lily burst out laughing, until April said, "Well Lily, ready to tell the world about your secret passion?"

Lily's face darkened. "After you lay that lipgloss on and do some serious snogging with Sirius."

"Pardon?"

Lily whirled around to see Sirius standing right behind her. "It's a bet."

"A bet?"

"Yes, a bet. Lily said the day she realizes her love for James is the day April gets caught in a closet with you, then April said that's the day we see Annie and Owen snogging." May said, before turning back to her food.

Sirius' eyes grew wide, and he clenched his fists. "Oh, he better not lay a FINGER on her-!" A hand was suddenly around his mouth.

"Sorry, guys." Remus said. "He's taken on the role of Annie's protector. He's a bit mad-! OW!!!" Remus was jumping up and down holding his hand. "You bit me! You bloody bit my hand!"

Annie looked up from her pasta to see Remus jumping up and down. "Juliet, isn't that your cousin?"

"Yeah. What's got his goat?" Juliet asked.

"I think somebody bit his hand." Owen said.

"That Sirius guy did it. I saw." Tristan said.

"Why're you watching the fourth-year girls?" asked Evan Moscovitch, another first year Griffindor.

"They're pretty hot, duh!" Tristan said.

"That's gross, Tristan." Charlie Richards, a first-year Griffindor, stated.

"Well your name's gross. Who names a girl Charlie?" Tristan said.

"My parents did!" Charlie huffed, and crossed her arms.

"Hey look! Dessert's here!" Owen said, to try to calm them down.

"Brownies with chocolate chips! My favorite!" Annie said excitedly, and grabbed four or five.

"Carrot cake!" Charlie and Tristan said at once.

"Fudge!" Juliet said happily.

"Ice cream!" Evan exclaimed.

Half an hour or so passed in near silence for the first-years, who were so delighted with the cooking they were speechless.

"Owen?" Annie asked.

Looking up, he said, "Yeah?"

"What's your favorite dessert?"

Blushing slightly, he said, "I like brownies with chocolate chips alot, but I love to dip them in warm icing. My dad think's I'm weird for going to a convenience store and buying icing, but that's me."

"Why's it weird? I do that alot."

"I'm a pureblood, not to be rude. Just my entire family are witches and wizards, but my older brother Mitch loves Muggles, he's marrying one. She's just happy she won't have to clean!"

Annie gave a small giggle. "My brother was the first wizard my family had, I was second. My brother's marrying a half-blood, and he's happy HE won't have to clean with or without magic!"

"My brother's a curse-breaker. Yours?"

"An Auror. I remember asking him, when I was seven, what the hell an Auror was."

All of a sudden, the desserts disapeered. There was some collective groans, mainly from the Marauders, but all noises stopped when Dumbledore stood up.

"Students, staff, we are in dark times. But you must remember, even in such times, there is hope. If we grasp onto this hope, we can overcome anything, if we believe in ourselves. You must not be afraid to join forces with some you never believed possible to get past these times. By ourselves, we are weak. Together, we are invincible."

Sirius leaned over to Peter and said, "As long as I don't have to be with Snivellus, I'll do anything."

"On a lighter note, Mr. Filch has added items to the list of items that are banned from the school. If anybody wishes to see it, it is posted outside his office. And also, for our new students, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students. You may not go in for any reason at all. Not even, 'My flying pig flew in there and I need to get him back'. Thank you. I believe you are all excited to get to your beds, so chop chop!"

Lily stood up and stretched. "Coming, guys? Or waiting until the herd moves by?" she asked, indicating to the Prefects and first-years scrambling around.

"I'm going with the first-years." May said. "I want to help the girls get adjusted."

"Isn't there Prefects for that EXACT reason?" April asked, examining her nails.

"Yes, but they only tell them where their dorms are. Not how to survive in Hogwarts." Having said that, May turned on her heel and walked away.

"What's gotten up her bum and died?" Peter asked, just arriving to see the girls and do their usual chat before going to the Common Room.

They heard a slight snarl, and a voice that said, "She's upset about something, don't be a dick." and they watched Remus chase after May.

"What's gone up his arse and died?" Sirius asked.

"You guys are so CLUELESS!" Alice shrieked. "They're mad for each other but he's too anxious and she's too shy!"

"Geez, Carroll, take a pill." Sirius said calmly.

Lily rolled her eyes, saying, "As much as I hate it, Black's right. Calm down a bit. Remember, they're meeting at the lake on Friday."

Peter's eyes widened. "They ARE?"

James clapped Peter on the shoulder and said, "Yes, Peter, you don't know because you nearly pissed yourself and had to go to the washroom."

"Oh yeah, when Annie's hair turned red..."

"Say WHAT?" April, Lily and Alice said together.

"She got ticked and her hair turned red." Sirius repeated.

"She's a metamorphmagus?! Those are rare! Theres barely any in pureblooded families, I think theres only been a handful of muggleborn ones!" Lily exclaimed. "I wonder if she can control it, or if it's mainly emotion!"

"I think she can control it a bit, Evans." James said.

"I wasn't asking you Potter- and how do you know?" Lily spat.

"When her hair turned red, she saw how freaked we became at her reaction. Her hair went back to brown like THAT." James replied calmly, running a hand through his hair. "It's not that hard to see, really. For me at least."

Sirius and Peter winced, knowing what Lily would say.

"You are unbelievable, Potter! Can't you focus on somebody else for one minute of your life?" She shouted.

Alice and April gave each other a look, knowing how James would react.

"Maybe, if you went on a date with me...?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

April, Alice, Sirius and Peter all slowly began to back away.

"DATE YOU? I HATE YOU POTTER! YOU ARE AN ARROGANT TOERAG! I DON'T EVEN SEE HOW ANNIE COULD FORGIVE YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS AFTER THE WAY YOU TREATED HER! YOU MAKE ME SICK, POTTER." Lily screamed, and stormed out of the hall, leaving James with Frank, who was really confused.

"I just screwed up again, didn't I?" James asked.

Frank nodded. "Maybe don't act like you're certain she'd say yes. Act a little sensitive, maybe?"

"I AM sensitive! How could she now see how sweet I am? I mean, I have been asking her out for ages, not giving up and all, wait, where are you going? Frank? C'mon! Don't leave me!" James ran out of the hall after Frank, who was grumbling about melodramatic testosterone-filled roomates.

"Well." Dumbledore stood up from his chair. "I think that went VERY well."


	3. That damned Friday!

The week passed by quickly, and before anybody knew it, it was Friday morning. The sky was clear, birds were singing, Lily Evans was having Potter-free dreams, and the entire Griffindor Tower were about to be awakened.

"MY HAIR! MY HAIR! IT'S... IT'S..." May fell on her bed crying.

April ran out of the bathroom, having woken up early to do her makeup. Her jaw dropped when she saw May's hair. It was green. It was knotted. It was in a ball on the back of her head. "Oh my god..." She said, grabbing her wand and pulling May into her lap, starting to do hair charms.

"It's hideous! My hair! I have to meet Remus after supper today! I can't look like this!" May sobbed.

"Shhh, hon. It'll be black, long and beautiful again when I'm done with it," April said, soothing her sister. "Supper's hours away. There's still Breakfast, classes, Lunch, and more classes before you meet him."

"Wha-what if he sees me before it's normal again?" May sniffled, wiping a tear.

"Before what's normal?" Alice asked, emerging from her bed, grabbing some robes from her trunk, heading to the bathroom.

"Her hair!" April shouted, even though Alice had turned on the shower.

Alice came back out, toweling her hair, twenty minutes later. Lily got up, and without looking at April or May, dove for the bathroom, screaming "SCORE!" when she closed the door.

"What about her hair?" Alice asked, looking for her wand. Looking up, her jaw dropped.

"What?" May asked.

April sighed. "What, Alice? You're going to catch flies if you don't close your mouth."

Alice, shaking, picked up a mirror and handed it to April.

Whoever wasn't awake by the first shriek, was now awake by the second.

"EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK! MY HAIR! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH MY HAIR? IT LOOKS LIKE MAY'S!" April screamed, nearly in hysterics.

May hugged her sister, who, being the self-concious fashionista she is, collasped into tears in her sister's arms and was crying like a two-year old who had just lost their teddy bear.

Alice was shaking. What the hell had happened while she was in the shower? Grabbing her wand, she knelt by April and had begun to fix her hair.

April had lost it. First her baby sister, the youngest of the triplets, but now her? "This is horrible!" she blubbered.

Alice soothed her. "Don't worry. There's an hour left till breakfast."

Fifteen minutes later, Lily walked out, feeling like a model. Until she saw Alice, April, and May. Her eyes flashed, and she growled, "Potter."

Alice looked up, and guessed what had happened. "My hair...?"

Lily nodded.

Alice's face fell. Hugging her knees, she leaned against the two triplets.

Lily's eyes lit up with an idea. "It's the shampoo!"

"What?" April asked.

"May showered last night, and this morning she woke up with it. You showered early, so you got it next. Then Alice, and soon me!" Lily said happily.

"Why're you happy about this?" May asked angrily.

"BeCAUSE, we can strike back!" Lily said even more happily.

May's face fell. "Why would Remus do this?"

Lily shrugged. "He's a Marauder. Need any other reason? Now, if you excuse me, I need to get revenge." Grabbing the bottle, she ran out of the room.

Not a minute after she left, three first-year girls were at the door.

"DO YOU MIND? I HAD TO GET UP EARLY!" Charlie screamed.

"WE HAVE LIVES TOO, YOU KNOW!" Juliet shouted.

"By the way, I wouldnt go down to the common room for a while." Annie said, un-interested in her friend's complaints.

All the girls turned to look at her.

"Why not?" April asked, rubbing May's shoulder.

"Remus slugged Si because of some prank, and they started a fist-fight." Annie said.

"Why did Remus slug Sirius?" May asked, quietly.

"Sirius told Remus they were planning to prank the Slytherins, but it turns out, he lied. Lily told Remus that you guy's hair was green and knotty... Remus snapped. He started screaming at Sirius and last I saw, Remus was trying to beat the shit out of Sirius when he told him that he pranked you."

May's face lit up with a smile, and skipped out of the room.

oOoOoOoOo

Remus walked alone to Potions. He skipped breakfast, knowing Sirius would apologize and May would most likely slap him, along with Alice and April. He rubbed his cheek, where he had hit his head when James and Peter pulled him off Sirius. 'Why did this have to happen TODAY, of all days?' he thought. 'The day where I tell May everything... I give up.'

Kicking a wall, he said to himself, "Love stinks."

"You love her?" A voice said from behind him.

Turning, he saw Sirius still bore his black eye and bruise on his cheekbone. "I swear man, I didn't know... we were just testing it, see... I'm so sorry... but I swear I didn't mean for it to affect May!"

"Who, then?" Remus asked, slightly peeved Sirius followed him.

"April. She told a bunch of third-years I'm gay!"

"Sirius, do you care that much about your reputation?"

"Yes, I do!"

"You're unbelievable." Rolling his eyes, Remus went back to walking. Sirius followed him.

"Remus, May was asking for you at breakfast." Sirius said after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Probably to slap me."

"She says that she wants to talk to you."

"Probably to slap me."

"Judging by the look in her eyes, she wants something very different."

"Probably to kill me." Reaching the Potions doors, he sighed.

"Do you care about this bird THAT much?"

"Sirius, I think I love her!"

"You're worse then James."

"How is he worse then ME?" James said, running up to the two, Peter behind him.

"Lily hates your guts and you still ask her out?" Peter guessed.

"Don't remind me." James groaned.

"Something happen at breakfast?" Remus asked, slightly worried.

James pointed to a large red handprint on his cheek.

"Ouch."

James put his arm around Remus. "We're in the same boat, my friend."

Peter scoffed. "No, he actually has a chance."

oOoOoOoOo

It was evident to everybody in Remus' classes how paranoid he was. When June walked up to him in Potions to borrow his silver knife, he squeaked and handed it to her. When she went to sit next to May, she looked up and smiled at Remus. Remus nearly went insane trying to figure out what the smile meant.

"He looks like he's about to snap." Lily said.

"June, what did you say to him?" May asked, turning away from Remus.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" June said defensively.

"Maybe skipping breakfast wasn't such a good idea for him." May said, a little sad.

Later, in Herbology, where Remus was partnered with Alice, he was jumpy the entire time.

"Remus, can you open the stump for me? I forgot to grab some of the roots on the inside..." Alice asked, head in book.

"Sure Alice, anything you want! Is this good! Do you need it wider? How bout now?" Remus asked, voice nearly an ocave higher then usual.

"That's... fine..." Alice said, slightly creeped out.

"He looks so scared!" May said, nearly having her Shooting Stump fire a goo that makes people erupt into itchy hives.

Lily rolled her eyes, and went back to collecting the roots. "I don't see why you're so fussed. You're still meeting after dinner, right?"

May's faced paled. "Are we? Oh my god- What if he doesn't show?"

"Breathe, May. Deep breaths. Come on." Lily coached. "You can do it."

A few spots away, James and Sirius were watching, a little weirded out.

"Why is Remus talking like that? She's not going to kill him or anything." James asked.

"You'd be surprised on what he thinks." Sirius muttered, and continued to prod his stump with a large stick.

"I'm going to go ask Evans." James said, and left. He returned a minute later, rubbing his cheek.

"What did you do now?" Sirius asked, sceptical on James' views of the 'I hate you' dilema.

"I asked her if I could talk to her. She said no, sent me an evil look. I asked her why Remus was so jumpy. She asked me why I don't go curl up in a hole and die. I told her if I did that, She would be without a husband in the future years. She slapped me."

"You're so clueless."

"I don't care."

"I take what I said before, you're worse then Remus." Sirius retorted.

"Well maybe he is better with girls then you and me!" James spat.

"No way, Jamie. Remus is NOT better with girls then us. He just KNOWS what to say and what to do. Tip Numero Uno, Do NOT suggest going on a date, marriage, and children every time you see the object of your affections!"

"Okay, don't be advising me on how to talk to girls. You have a hickey and it's barely a week since school started. Besides, she mesmerizes me... it all just sort of, slips out." James sighed. "Do I even have a chance?"

Peter and Frank, who were walking to Proffesor Sprout with their roots, burst out laughing.

oOoOoOoOo

"This is plain ridiculous! He won't even look at me!" May complained in Transfiguration. She looked at the porcupine she was supposed to turn into a pincushion with disdain.

"Here's a tip: Grow a backbone! Leave him a note! I don't care! Just stop talking about him!" Sirius, May's partner, groaned. "He's my best mate, and him worrying about you and James obsessed with Lily is driving me NUTS!"

May was taken aback. "Does he still want to meet me?"

"Blimey, Zelan, you're supposed to be the smart one!" Sirius cried, earning him a sharp jab from his porcupine.

"He's going?"

"Yes! So shut up, and concentrate, supper's right after this class and I'm starving!"

Thankfully, before May could retort, the bell rang. Grabbing her books, she stormed out of the class, upset by what Sirius had said. "You're supposed to be the smart one... what is that supposed to mean... 'Shut up and concentrate'..." She turned into an empty corridor and hid against the wall, where nobody could see her cry. The curse of being misunderstood is being sensitive.

"Hey, baby. Where's your friends?" a voice sneered.

May opened her eyes to see Andrew Douglas, of Hufflepuff staring at her.

"Go away, Douglas." She muttered.

"No, baby, I don't think so. Comforting pretty girls in distress is what I do best." He winked, and started walking towards her. Grabbing her arm, he whispered in her ear, "Why don't you ditch that loser Lupin for a real man?"

Trying to get out of his grip, she said, "I said, Go away. I don't need comforting from somebody like you!"

"Aw, babe, why not? I can offer a shoulder to cry on, a bed to sleep on, and more." Leaning in, he spoke in her ear, "You don't need a sensitive guy, sweetheart, you need a man, with experience."

May's eyes widened in fear. 'Where the hell is everybody? Why don't I hear anything? What's going to happen?' she thought, panicked. 'I'm only fourteen, for christ's sake!'

"L..leave me alone!" She screamed, and jerked out of his grip. She ran right into somebody else.

"You heard her, leave her alone." A dark voice growled.

"Aw, Lupin, always coming to save the day. But she doesnt need rescuing. She needs some excitement. I can offer her that." Andrew sneered.

"Yes, she needs some excitement. Is that why she's scared? Is that why she was telling you to go away?" Remus snarled. "Leave us alone. Got that?"

"Nah, how about you just stay put, and me and May can go somewhere? _Locomotor Mortis!_"

"_Protego!_"

After a moment, Remus said, "C'mon May, let's go."

Casting a glance back, she saw Andrew trying to run after them, but only succeding in falling on his arse.

"Why were you alone with Douglas?" Remus asked, spitting out the last word with hatred oozing off it.

"I... I was trying to be alone... I guess he followed me." May shivered.

"Why didn't you do anything?" He asked, eyes full of concern.

"Because I was scared..." May bit her lip.

"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me on Halloween?"

"What?" May froze.

Remus blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Want to go to the lake?"

"I have a better idea..." May said, grinning, and thinking, 'April would be proud.'

Remus blanked. "What?"

May grabbed his hand and pulled him into a broom closet.

oOoOoOoOo

"Have you guys seen May anywhere? As far as I knew, she was going to the Lake AFTER dinner." April asked Sirius, James and Peter at dinner, with Lily behind her.

Peter shook his head. "Where's Alice?"

Lily rolled her eyes, and said, "With Frank, most likely in a broom closet."

James looked up at Lily. "Say Evans, how 'bout we take a page out of their book, eh?"

"No. Shod off." Lily walked away, and sat down next to Owen and Annie, who looked at her a little oddly.

Sirius laughed, and brought out a pad of paper. "Strike one down for rejected!"

April shot Sirius a look.

"What?" He asked.

"You made my hair GREEN!"

"It's back to black! That's good, isn't it?""

"BUT IT WAS GREEN! GREEN!"

James coughed. "So, have you seen Remus?"

April turned from Sirius to look at James. "No. What if..."

While April was contemplating things, Andrew Douglas burst through the Great Hall doors and hopped over to the Hufflepuff table, and sat down next to June.

"Last time I saw Remus he was swearing about Douglas and followed him. Maybe we should ask Douglas where Remus is." Peter offered.

"Good idea. OI! JUNE!" Sirius shouted. "GET OVER HERE!"

"Mr. Black, please refrain from shouting." Reprimanded McGonagall.

"Yes, Proffesor." Sirius chorused.

"Sirius, what do you want?" June hissed, sitting next to Sirius.

"Did Douglas say anything about Remus or May?"

"Something about how Remus jinxed him and ruined his booty call, but nothing else. Why?"

"We havent seen May. Or Remus." April answered.

Alice and Frank burst into the Great Hall.

"Ohmigosh!" Alice exclaimed when she got to the group, Frank behind her.

"What?" James asked.

"We were looking for a broom closet, and.. and.." Alice was overcome by a fit of giggles.

"We basically burst in on Remus and May, liplocked, doing some serious snogging." Frank finished.

"I knew it!" Sirius jumped up.

"No you didn't," April said, pulling him down.

"Well I did in my mind." He defended.

"You don't have a mind."

* * *

An iniside look to chapter four!

"Miss Zelan, please come with me." Proffesor McGonagall said, poking her head through the door.

"Why?" April asked. "I didn't do anything!"

* * *

"Lily, why do you hate me?" James pleaded.

"Because you're an arrogant toerag!" She shouted, and stormed up the stairs to the Girl's dormitories.

"But... but... I..."

* * *

And there you have it!


	4. To Fly Or Not To Fly!

Saturday morning arrived peacefully. Being the first Saturday of the Hogwarts year, most students were taking the opportunity to sleep in. Not the Gryffindor Quidditch team! Or the rest of the Gryffindors, who were awakened by the captain, Olivia Wood, screaming at the top of her lungs for them to wake up and meet at the Pitch.

Remus shook his head and glared at Sirius. "You just had to be Beater, didn't you?"

"Hey, it's not my fault! Jamie's a Seeker!" Sirius protested, pulling his uniform over his head.

"Yes, but James wakes up early because he has work ethic!" Peter grumbled.

"He doesn't have that much more then me!" Sirius pouted.

"Sirius, everybody has more work ethic compared to you. Sagi has more work ethic then you!" Remus said; referring to Sirius' owl, who was so lazy it took him two extra days to deliver letters.

"It's not my fault!"

"Technically, it is, and Olivia says to get down because tryouts are in a few hours and she wants us to warm up before we try everybody out. We do need a new Beater, and three Chasers. I can't believe we were dumb enough to have all our Chasers in seventh year. It's starting from scratch, no person to show them the ropes!" James said, entering the room, grabbing his goggles and leaving the room.

"When he's Captain, he's going to go nuts." Sirius grumbled, storming out.

"Nice of you to grace us with your presence, Black." April spat, putting on her Keeper's gloves.

"What's got your panties in a line, Zelan?" Sirius asked angrily.

"I got attacked by Alice's cat." She muttered.

"Archie attacked you? Why?" Olivia asked, familiar with Alice's cat.

"Alice threw her at me after you screamed a second time." April sighed.

James hopped from one foot to the other. "Can we please GO?"

Olivia laughed. "You can go to the washroom anytime you want James. We'll be at the Pitch. Come on, guys."

"You KNOW thats NOT what I meant!"

* * *

An hour after they left, there was a stampede of students, years 2 to 7, to go tryout for the team. Some of them weren't even trying out, just supporting friends going for the team or friends on the team. The first years, during that time, decided to take over the Common Room.

Evan and Juliet sat a table playing Wizard's Chess, Tristan was throwing around pick-up lines with Jordan and Alex, other first-year boys, Charlie and Samantha, a first-year girl who liked books rather then friends, were working on homework. Annie and Owen sat on a sofa and stared into the fire, which was odd, because it was 9 in the morning in September and there was no need for a fire.

"Why is Quidditch such a big deal?" Annie asked.

Owen stared at her. "Quidditch is the most popular wizarding sport EVER! You should know that, your brother was on the team, wasn't he?"

Annie nodded. "But most of the tower went to go see the tryouts. Why?"

Owen shrugged. "A quarter of them, to try out. Another quarter, to stare and drool over the players. The rest were really bored or supporting friends."

"They drool over the players?"

"Yeah. My brother used to complain about a seventh-year who was supposed to be Captain, but he came in September and resigned from the team altogether. They got creamed. Mitch was on the team, he was a fifth-year then."

Annie's face reddened and she got off the sofa, and sat next to the fire. "That seventh-year WAS my brother. He came home on Christmas, and told me it was the hardest thing he had ever done. But... he did promise me. And I promised him."

Owen crouched next to her. "Why did he quit? What did he promise?"

Annie shook her head, and turned away from him.

"C'mon Annie, tell me!"

She stood up, eyes tearing, and ran from the Common Room. Samantha ran out after her, followed by Juliet, then Charlie.

Owen was shocked that she reacted like that.

Evan scratched his head. "What did you do, Owen?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"What were you talking about? I saw her get a little tense right after you started talking. " Alex asked.

"Why were you watching her?" Evan asked.

"She's pretty cute." Alex shrugged.

Owen clenched his fists. "We were talking about Quidditch. Just Quidditch."

The room dissolved into silence.

"Why is there only four Gryffindor girls in first-year?" Tristan asked.

"Shut up, Tristan." The other boys echoed.

* * *

The rest of the Gryffindor's returned around three, having finished tryouts a bit late. The room was a bit chaotic, because the second-years were fuming on how badly they did, fifth-years were already collapsing under the pressure of OWLs, seventh-years were trying to get good chairs by the fire, and well, the Marauders were planning things. And the Marauder's aren't famed for being quiet. Especially not Sirius Black.

"BUT ANNIE'S PLAN WAS SOOO GOOD! WE SHOULD USE IT BEFORE WE FORGET!" Sirius exclaimed, pounding his fists on the table. "SNIVELLUS DESERVES IT!"

"How can we do it, though, Sirius?" Remus muttered, looking over Hogwarts: A History at the not-very exact map of Hogwarts. "The only way is to prank all of them!"

"Thats genius, Remus!" James said a little loud. "Pranking all the Slytherins! They do deserve it, after all!"

"Oh really, Potter? What did they do to deserve it?" Lily asked, frowning.

"They were born!" James said plainly, like there was nothing as obvious in the world.

"I can't believe you! Why can't you give them a chance?" She asked.

"Because they hate everything! They hate muggleborns! Did you not notice how they tried hex you on Tuesday?"

"I don't need you to protect me, Potter! If you didn't notice, I DON'T LIKE YOU!" She spat, and turned and walked away.

James stood up and stopped her right before she got to the stairs.

"Lily, why do you hate me?" He pleaded.

'Because you a heartless arrogant toerag!" She screamed, and turned and walked up the stairs.

"But... but I... I..." James fumbled over the words.

Peter put a hand on his shoulder. "Let her go, James."

Sirius grinned. "Want to go cruising tomorrow?"

"Cruising?" Remus asked.

"For chicks. Single guys only. Sorry." Sirius said.

"It's okay," May said from behind Remus. "Single guys don't get snogs at random intervals during the day." She laughed, and walked out of the Common Room.

"She's pretty hot, when you see her without the books and stuff." Sirius remarked.

"Go near her, I kill you."

Sirius squeaked. "Got it."

* * *

Sunday passed pretty quietly. Sirius and James, however, did not go Cruising, because they had to finish an essay for Potions, which was due on Monday. Their prank was in action- sneaking the potion which they had put into the girls' shampoo (altered, for the tutu and blonde effect) into the Kitchens, and telling the House-Elves to put the potion in all the Slytherin's food.

Monday morning came, and everybody was seated in the Great Hall. All of a sudden, there was a loud popping noise, and all of the teachers had lond blonde curly hair and were wearing ballerina tutu's.

Let's just say, Proffesor McGonagall wasn't all that happy.

"POTTER! BLACK! PETTIGREW! LUPIN! DETENTION FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!" She shouted, as Dumbledore and Proffesor Slughorn chuckled.

"That potion was amazing, though, you must admit, Minerva. " Slughorn said. "_Finite._" He whispered, and everybody was back to normal. Or as normal as you can get at Hogwarts.

Lily was laughing so hard she was almost crying. April and Alice were supporting eachother so they wouldn't collaspe. May and Remus looked at eachother and burst out laughing.

"Bloody House-Elves." Sirius muttered.

"Hey Sirius." Annie said, sitting down across from him, Owen next to her.

"Hey, Annie." He nodded darkly to Owen, who bit his lip and stacked his plate with pancakes.

"Oi, Owen, save us some!" Evan said, walking up with Jordan and Juliet.

Annie forked some sausages onto her plate and drowned them in syrup.

Jordan turned to Annie and asked, "Excited for flying today? First lesson!"

"Why didn't you get one last week?" James asked.

"Hooch was sick." Evan said. "It'll be my first time on a broom, ever!"

"Mine too." Jordan said. "Josh loved his broom- good thing he got Chaser this year or I wouldn't even go near it. 'I don't want you ruining this baby until I'm on the team!'" He imitated his older brother, and made a face.

"Not mine. Daddy took me out flying all the time." Juliet said.

"Not mine either. Mitch needed Quidditch practice, so he lent me his old broom." Owen added.

"It won't be mine... Rich took me out flying after he won the cup in his sixth year." Annie stabbed one of her sausages.

"So guys are you excited or what?" Jordan asked, evidently trying to pump everybody up.

"I am!" Evan and Juliet said together.

"Ditto!" Owen said.

Annie stayed quiet.

"Annie?" Sirius asked.

The bell went off, and Annie shot off like lightning.

"That was odd." Peter said.

"Maybe she's afraid of heights." Evan said. "She did that on Saturday, too."

"I was afraid of heights until my first lesson. I certainly didn't act like that." April said.

"But you're on the team!" Juliet said, shocked.

"YOU! GET TO CLASS, ALL OF YOU!" McGonagall ordered.

* * *

April sat boredly next to June in Muggle Studies. Proffesor Tarmad was talking about elitrikidy, or something. Being a half-blood, she should of known what he was talking about, but both her parents were wizards and her mom, a muggle-born, eloped with her dad the minute they graduated from Hogwarts, so April barely knew anything about Muggle life. All she focused on was she was two classes away from dinner and semi-freedom.

"So, Miss April, can you tell the class five things that work on electricity in the Muggle world?" Tarmad asked.

"The television, a computer, uhm, light bulbs, er, a fridge, and a felly- telephone!"

"Correct. Now, Miss June, can you tell me why a fridge works in the Wizarding world?"

"Because they are charmed to work on magic."

"Correct- Yes, Proffesor McGonagall?" Tarmad asked.

April whirled around. 'Thank god Potter and Black's in this class, or I might have to be worried!'

"I would like to borrow Miss April for a bit." McGonagall stated.

June shot her a look that said, _What did you do now?_

"But.. but I didn't do anything!" April defended, getting up and grabbing her bag.

"Please, quickly." She said, and together they left the room.

"You see, Miss Zelan, there is a first-year who refuses to fly. We've been trying for the past fifteen minutes, but she won't fly! She doesn't seem afraid of heights, but she won't go anywhere near a broom! I know you used to be afraid of heights, so perhaps you can help?" McGonagall explained, and walked towards Dumbledore's office.

"Why is the student in Dumbledores office?" April asked.

"Because he has helped with situations like this in the past." Turning to the statue, she said, "_Funnel cakes. _This was, Miss Zelan."

McGonagall opened the door and ushered April in, adding, "Good luck" before she closed the door.

Dumbledore looked up and smiled. "Ah, April, come in, come in."

April sat down and looked to her side.

"Hi, April." Annie said, and looked at her hands.

Dumbledore looked back at Annie. "Anne, April was afraid of heights and now she's on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team."

Anne looked at him and quickly looked away, saying, "I'm not afraid of heights."

"Then why won't you fly?" April blurted out. "Flying is amazing! Wind through your hair, great view, unbelievable freedom, it's a great feeling to be on a broom!"

"I know!" Annie snapped.

"Then why won't you fly, Anne?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"I promised Richard." Annie bit her lip.

"Why would you make a promise like that?" April asked.

"Because he promised me the same thing before his seventh year, and flying was his life. He had to quit the team!" She said, eyes slightly tearing.

"Why did he make such a promise?" Dumbledore asked gently. "Will you tell us?"

Annie bit her lip again, and nodded. "Theres a ten year difference between Richard and me. When I was born, my parents were really happy but a little sad that I didn't have a sibling near my age. A week before I turned one, Robert was born. My parents knew I was a witch because of my, my..."

"You being a Metamorphmagus." Dumbledore answered.

"Yeah, that. Well, me and Rich knew Rob was a Muggle. But we didn't care. We all loved him, and when Richard went to Hogwarts, me and Rob could play and talk. We got really close." Annie sighed. "When Rob was six, he started to show a big interest in trains. He loved them. By mid July, he could name the first railway, and basically anything about the way trains work.

"My parents had a couple of close friends who lived in Canada, where they were from, who owned a railway company. So at the beginning of August, they flew Rob over there on a plane so he could spend a few weeks with them and learn more about trains. Me and Richard were sorta down, because we missed him. But in the meanwhile, Richard decided to teach me Quidditch so when I'm a second-year, I could be on the team. He started to take me out flying everyday." Annie's eyes filled up with tears and one rolled down her face.

"The day Rob was supposed to come home, we all went to the airport early. I was seven, I was excited, because it would be my first time in an airport. My parent's friends were going to fly over with Rob to visit, because they were my godparents.

"We got to the airport, and my parents asked somebody where we should wait. They asked us what plane his was, then when Daddy told the person, they ushered us into some lounge that was filled with a bunch of confused people. Then the person who we had spoken to came in the room and asked for our attention." Annie's face twisted in pain and she burst into tears. Hiccuping, she said quietly, "My brother's flght crashed half an hour before it landed. There were no survivors."

April jumped up and hugged Annie tightly. Dumbledore frowned slightly.

Pushing April away slightly, Annie said, "Then and there my brother told me that he would never fly anything again, and we made a pact that as long as we both lived, we would never fly. My brother threw away his life because my baby brother lost his. That's why I don't fly."

* * *

June tapped her fingers on her desk in Potions, while May took notes on the Moonlight Potion, a potion that, if drunk during a full moon, would enable you to see in the dark for a week.

"June, can you go get me a few Glowslugs? It says you need to drain the juices from them. June?" May poked June hard in the ribcage with her quill. "What's wrong with you?"

"April got called out of class in Muggle Studies and I havent seen her since." June said simply.

May rolled her eyes. "Muggle Studies was last period. I doubt she's been eaten by a troll." She said as she walked to get the Glowslugs herself.

Remus was there picking out a few. "What is it?" He asked, seeing her face.

"June. Worrying about April."

"Sirius has been harking about her since this class started. He thinks that she shouldn't play innocent to the teachers. Personally, I think he fancies her."

"I know. Nobody talks about who they 'hate' that much, not even Lily!" May laughed.

"Miss Zelan, Mr Lupin, please stop talking and get back to your potions!" Slughorn said, wagging his finger.

"What took you so long?" Sirius growled as Remus walked back. "The potion's almost orange..."

"Then add the dragonfly wings!" Remus said, throwing in the wings and putting his Glowslugs on the cutting board. Picking up his knife, he crushed the slugs and collected the juices in a small vial.

"I don't see how Zelan could _not _know that she's in trouble. I mean, she's always caught with guys." Sirius continued to talk, but Remus started to block him out.

Twenty minutes later, the doors of the classroom burst open, revealing April, holding her bags and gasping for breath. Walking up to Slughorn, she handed him a note, saying "Proffesor McGonagall, Dumbledore, First-year, flying." and then right before she sat down, the bell rang, indicating the end of class.

"OH COME ON!" April shouted, shaking her fist at the ceiling.

"Breathe, Zelan." Sirius said. "Wouldn't want you popping a vein." He added sarcastically.

"Go be an insensitive prick somewhere else, Black." She snapped.

"Uhm, guys, can't you just get along?" James asked.

"Shut up, Potter, nobody cares what you think." Lily spat.

May and Remus shot eachother a look and walked out of the class holding hands. Peter shot a hopeful glance towards June, who said, "Dont even think about it, Pete."

* * *

"So April, did you find out why Annie hates Quidditch?" James asked later in the Common Room.

"Yeah."

"Can you tell us?" Peter asked.

"Fine." April sighed. "Annie's younger brother died in a plane accident when she was seven and her brother 'threw away his life because her baby brother lost his.'"

Owen, who was walking by, turned on his heel and bolted out of the Common Room in search of Annie.

Sirius shot him a glare.

"So thats what the promise was?" James asked.

April nodded.

"Not to fly?" Sirius asked, shocked.

Alice, who was doing her nails by the fire, said, "Yeah."

"Really?" James asked, earning him a smack on the back of the head.

* * *

Preview of Chapter Five:

Remus held May's hand over the table and smiled.

She smiled back, saying, "I love The Three Broomsticks. It's such a nice place. I mean, even April's in here. Snogging, yeah, but she's in here."

Remus laughed, asking, "Who's she with?"

"I think it's... oh my god."

* * *

There you go!

leprauchan: Yes it will, it's going to continue until James and Lily's death. (Actually, it goes on a bit after that. I might need a sequel.)

Missy369: Thanks, and I'm updating, I'm updating!

Melora: Thanks for the luck, I might need it!


	5. The Game, Hogsmeade, and a Surprise!

The rest of September passed in a flash. Pretty soon, it was October. October 16, to be exact. The first Quidditch game of the year! Tensions are rising as the two teams, Gryffindor and Slytherin got more and more angry with each other. Josh Thatch was in the hospital wing a few days before the match due to the fact his body was shaking so much he couldn't grab onto anything. Hideo, the Slytherin Seeker, was found with boils covering his body. Jessica Hakes, Chaser, and Thomas Brown, Chaser, were both found with their lips jinxed together (which sparked a relationship but was a trick played by the Slytherins nonetheless.)

Annie, Charlie, Juliet and Samantha had taken it upon themselves to barge into every dormitory and scream it was "Match Day".

By the time they met up in the Common Room, Annie was blushing, Charlie was nursing her cheek, Juliet was soaked in water and Samantha, who they had given the second to fourth year girls, was happy about how she had turned out.

"What happened to you?" Samantha asked Charlie.

"My sister, fifth year, decided to slap me for waking her up during her 'beauty-sleep'. She loves Sirius, she does." She sighed. Turning to Juliet, she asked, "What happened to you?"

Juliet sighed. "I got the fourth to seventh year boys. Most of them threw water on me. Remus decided to get creative and got Sirius to throw me in their tub. What happened to you, Annie?"

"I was fine until my last room- first year boys." Her friends cringed. "Yeah. I found out Owen likes to sleep only in boxers. Awkward moment."

"Bet you liked it though!" Charlie teased.

"Shut up! No I did not! He's just somebody I can talk to when I need to. A really good friend. With surprisingly a really muscular body." Annie turned a deeper colour with each sentence. "It was just, odd. Then Alex asked if a cute girl was going to wake him up every time theres a match, and if there was, he wouldn't mind everyday being a match. Then Tristan said that he should keep dreaming. Then Evan and Jordan, who's nicer then we thought, noticed I was dying of embarrasment and told them to shove off. Then Owen, who was getting out of bed when I came in, asked me if the weather was nice. I squeaked and left."

"YOU WENT INTO THE BOY'S DORMS?" Sirius asked, shouting, from the stairs.

Annie cringed. "Yes?"

"You know that they're irresponsible and starting puberty!"

"That's rich, coming from YOU!"

"You shouldn't be going into their rooms! Look what had happened to May, and she didn't even go near Douglas!"

"Sirius, I can take care of myself!" Annie spat, and stormed out of the Common Room.

"What is going on with her?" Sirius asked Charlie, Sam and Juliet.

Charlie blushed, inheriting her sister's crush on Sirius. Sam rolled her eyes, and Juliet sighed.

Sirius sighed and went back up the stairs.

* * *

"GOOD MORNING HOGWARTS! TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE QUIDDITCH SEASON, AND BOY, IT'S GOING TO BE AN INTERESTING YEAR!" Remus said into the giant murple megaphone. "THE HOUSES IN THIS MATCH ARE GRYFFINDOR-" Three fourths of the stadium burst into cheers. "AND SLYTHERIN!" Whoever was cheering, was now boo-ing the Slytherin team. "IT SEEMS THERE IS NO CROWD FAVORITE!"

"HERE COMES THE SLYTHERIN TEAM! KEEPER AND CAPTAIN, JOE PRINGE! CHASERS, WATERHOUSE, PRIDE, AND SOLAR! BEATERS, OCTEL AND NERY! AND SEEKER! HIDEO!" The green and silver part of the crowd began to cheer, while the other three parts, which were red and gold, boo-ed. The Slytherin team felt very sad because their house is has no spirit.

"AND HERE COMES THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM!" The stadium burst into ear shattering applause. "BEATER AND CAPTAIN, OLIVIA WOOD! HER OTHER HALF IS BLACK!"

"LUPIN!"

"Sorry Professor, but that's Sirius' last name! ANYWAYS. KEEPER, ZELAN! CHASERS, THATCH, HAKES AND BROWN! AND SEEKER, THE UNBEATABLE-"

"LUPIN!"

"Sorry. SEEKER, POTTER!"

Down in the stands, May was cheering for her sister with June, cheeing, "ZELAN! ZELAN! SHES THE MAN! IF SHE CAN'T CATCH IT, THEN NO ONE CAN! PRINGE PRINGE, HE AINT A MAN, IF HE CAN'T CATCH IT, THATS GREAT!"

Annie and Samantha jumped up and down excited for the snitch to be released. Charlie and Juliet burst out laughing at the regular 'LUPIN!'s.

Remus took control of the megaphone again. "THE TEAMS ARE ASSEMBLED. WOOD AND PRINGE SHAKE HANDS. THE SNITCH IS RELEASED... AND THE GAME BEGINS!"

Cheers broke out on all sides of the stadium.

"SOLAR HAS THE QUAFFLE! PASSES TO WATERHOUSE, BACK TO SOLAR, PASSES IT- OH! INTERCEPTED BY HAKES! PASS TO THATCH, PASS TO BROWN, BACK TO THATCH, WHO SHOOTS, PRINGE DIVES, MISSES! GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"

"SLYTHERIN HAS THE QUAFFLE. WATERHOUSE PASSES TO SOLAR, WHO PASSES IT TO PRIDE! HE'S NEARING THE GOAL POSTS- OH! GETS NAILED BY A BLUDGER FIRED BY OLIVIA WOOD. NICE SHOT LIVS! KEEP IT UP-"

"LUPIN! KEEP YOUR FAVORITES OFF THE COMMENTARY!"

"Sorry Professor. I've got the House Spirit flowing! GRYFFINDOR WITH THE QUAFFLE. THATCH SPEEDS TOWARDS THE NET- HIT BY A BLUDGER TO THE HEAD! THAT HAS GOT TO SMART! WAIT A SECOND... HE'S STILL GOT THE QUAFFLE! HE'S GOING! PASSES TO HAKES, WHO PASSES TO BROWN, WHO THROWS THE QUAFFLE- IT'S IN! GRYFFINDOR LEADS 20-NIL!"

May and June threw their hands up. "PRINGE PRINGE, HE AINT A MAN! IF HE CANT STOP THAT HE NEVER CAN!"

Lily laughed with Alice and Frank when they noticed Pringe's girlfried, Juliana Roberson, glaring at them.

"SLYTHERIN HAS GOT THE QUAFFLE. PRIDE SWERVES THE BLUDGERS! PASSES IT TO WATERHOUSE! WATERHOUSE THROWS THE QUAFFLE- CAUGHT BY ZELAN! GRYFFINDOR STILL LEAD 20-NIL!"

This continued for a few hours or so. A quarter of the students left, including Alice, Samantha, Charlie, Juliana Roberson, and all the first-year boys.

Annie nudged Juliet. "Remus looks tired."

"He should, it's a few days 'till full moon. It's the twentieth, you know."

Annie whirled around. "What?"

Juliet blanched. "You don't know?"

"Know WHAT?"

"I thought you knew, being close to Sirius and all."

Annie snorted. "The last thing Sirius revealed to me was that April is a cold-hearted bitch, but that's pure trash."

"WHAT'S THIS?" Remus screamed into the megaphone. "DOES HEDIO SEE THE SNITCH? YES, HE DOES! HE'S RACING AHEAD, POTTER CLOSE BEHIND HIM. OH! HIDEO DOES A U-TURN TO AVOID A BLUDGER! WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT? POTTER'S IN THE LEAD! HEDIO ADVANCING ON HIM! YES! POTTER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS, 360 TO 70!"

"YES!" May screamed. "It's over! FINALLY!"

Lily laughed. "You could of just left, you know."

May frowned. "Thats the problem, my boyfriend's the announcer. I can't."

Juliet linked arms with Annie, and, walking by, said, "Sucks to be you then."

* * *

In the common room, later, was a huge after party. Afterall, even though James made the game last nearly four hours, they were now in the lead by 290 points in the league. And that was pretty sick.

Lily was dancing with Josh Thatch, who was pretty stoked he scored most of the goals for his team. Alice and Frank were, of course, incognito. May was dancing with Remus, occaisionaly kissing him. April was flirting heavily with some fifth-year, who lead up the boy's staircase. Sirius was flexing for his fan club. James was laughing with Brianne Metha. Peter was hanging out at the food table with some third year who seemed to like food as much as he did (fortunately for her, she exersized too). Most of the first-years were paired up by the fireplace. Juliet with Tristan, Charlie with Alex, Samantha with Evan. Jordan was chatting up some second-year. Annie and Owen, were missing.

No, they weren't snogging. For god's sake, they're eleven, and Owen's way too shy. Give them two or three years.

They were, infact, arguing on the balcony, where Owen found Annie munching on a chocolate frog with two dozen unopened more next to her, holding a butterbeer.

"Annie, what's wrong?" He asked.

Annie's hair flashed a fiery red- only momentarily. "Nothings wrong. I'm fine."

"Annie, I know that face. You chew the inside of your lip and furrow your eyebrows. Your lean forward and let your hair hide your face. That's what you do when you're sad, confused, or deep in thought (but you don't furrow your eyebrows when you're thinking.)"

Annie blushed. "Okay, thats really creepy. But NOTHING is WRONG. I'm FINE!"

"Annie-" Owen sighed. "I know you fought with Sirius-"

"You know NOTHING ABOUT ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Annie screamed, hair flaring red.

Owen looked like he just witnessed a baby dragon being tortured (Dragons were his favorite animal). Fighting back a tear or two, he said, "Okay, if that's what you want..." and ran off the balcony.

Annie sighed and opened her letter from her brother.

_Dear Annie-bear.._

_Remember when I called you that? I did when I got my Hogwarts letter from Dumbledore. I didn't stop until that... that day. Because Rob called you that too. _

_I laughed when I read your letter. Did McGonagall look good with blond hair? How about Slughorn? Slughorn in tights- OH! Bad image. HORRIBLE image. Is Sirius really protecting you that much? I only meant for the train. I bet he's being a pain in the ass. Tell me about your friends YOUR age. I know enough about the Marauders and the girls from Mr. Potter (my boss, remember?). Juliet's Remus' cousin? And Charlie likes Sirius? I'm glad you don't. Check if he's snogging some girl senseless now._

Annie poked her head inside.

_Samantha likes to read and has a crush on this... Alex? But he's a womanizer too, like Tristan? I know his sister, Trinity Ban. My year. Auror. Huge flirt. I bet it's hereditary. And Jordan looks like a womanizer but isn't? Sort of like June? And Evan is slightly nerdy? And Owen is a great friend of yours? He sounds like he fancies you, miss. If I ever meet him... I bet I'm sounding like Sirius right now. _

_Oh, I have to go. Annie's coming over for dinner with our folks.  
Mom and Dad say hi.  
Richard.  
Ps. Write their names on the envelope. So they won't feel bad reading it before I do._

Annie laughed, and took out a piece of parchment.

_Dear Mama and Daddy,_

_Richard told me you feel bad about opening letters with his name on it. Still the same. Guess what? GRYFFINDOR WON THE MATCH! We won by 290 points, which I think is ridiculous. How's Queen? Did she have her litter yet? I swear, she and ACDC have so many kittens. I heard that you're donating this litter to the orphanedge? That's so sweet! I guess I'll have to wait for the July litter to have my own kitten. _

_I'm doing fine in school, Daddy. Potions is like chemistry. But it's weird. Ask Rich to make you a potion sometime. But he was sorta rubbish at it until Slughorn came, remember? I think Creeps lived up to his name and creeped the bejibies out of him! _

_I'm eating fine, Mama. I have what I have at home- let me rephrase that. I'm eating better then I did at home. I try to have balanced-ish meals. Like at the beginning of October I only ate salads. To make up for my slurginess on Halloween, of course._

_I still think it's not fair you're going to Stonehenge a day before I was supposed to come back for Christmas. I won't see you until the summer!_

_Love you.  
Anne._

_Richard,_

_Yes, McGonagalls years disappeared the minute her hair changed. OF COURSE SHE DIDN'T LOOK GOOD IN BLONDE LOCKS! SHE'S SCOTTISH! _

_And to answer your questions... Yes, Yes, Yes he is snogging somebody, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes. I'm sorta tired. But Gryffindor won! And make sure Artemis get's some proper nourishment. Mama's fattening her up._

_Sorry for the short letter.  
See you in the summer.  
Annie-Bear._

Putting down her quill, she blew on her letters and sealed them. Whistling to Artemis (who had oddly stuck around after she gave Annie her letters), she attached her letters and watched Artemis fly off.

"It's calming out here, isn't it?"

Annie whirled around to see Peter. "Yeah. I like the moonlight." She hugged her knees.

"I heard what Sirius said to you... I really did. He stormed up and woke me up- again." Peter groaned.

"I just wish he'd let me be. I have Rich to look after me."

Peter looked her in the eyes. "Sirius told us, on the first night back, that he saw something in you. I don't really see it, but I guess he did. Maybe that's why he is looking after you so much it's suffocating."

Annie snorted.

"He also said he could relate... his family hates him, did you know? His parents would hit him. Regulus, his brother, loves him, but he doesn't know how to act so he acts like his parents. Are you different then your family?"

Annie blinked, stunned. "A little... both my parents are forty-nine, Richard is twenty-one, I'm eleven. I'm so young. And then my metamorphing. For the first year of my life, my brother, my parents, they were scared of me. Scared because when I cried, I would turn blue- not just my hair. Everything. When I was happy- I turned yellow. I only did that once. When Dumbledore came to see my parents about Richard, and they asked him what was wrong with me. He said, 'Absolutely nothing.'"

Peter chuckled. "Sounds like Dumbledore."

Annie smiled. "Maybe you're right. Besides. I don't have any of my family here. Maybe Sirius is trying to be my brother, in a way."

"Remus says that alot."

"Remus says alot of things alot." Annie smiled. Kissing Peter on the cheek, she said, "Thanks Pete," and walked back into the Common Room.

Peter rubbed his cheek. "Sirius is going to **kill** me."

* * *

The rest of October passed, thank god, with no Peter killings. There were some near Sirius-Killings (April), James killings (Lily), plenty of Sirius snoggings (Various girls), James snoggings (Brianne), and lots of other things you'd rather not hear about.

Unfortunately, the Halloween Hogsmeade Trip is one of those things, but you are going to hear about it.

Remus and May walked down to Hogsmeade hand and hand, smiling. With them was James and Brianne, who were steady, Sirius and Date Numero Uno, because he had a bunch more lined up, and Peter with the third-year who he had spoken to at the after-party, who's name was Courtney.

Remus and May split off the rest of the group when they reached Honeydukes. James and Brianne were going to The Three Broomsticks with Peter and Courtney, while Sirius snogged Numero Uno somewhere. May squealed with excitement in the fudge section. "I love this place!" she said happily. Remus laughed as she tried piece after piece, getting large bags of EVERYTHING (half was for Annie, she explained, who had given her some money, because Annie really loved fudge and chocolate frogs).

"May-flower, let me carry these." Remus said, taking the bags from her. Walking to the cash, he took out his moneybag and started to pay for all of May's chocolates. Then he took the money that Annie gave May and paid for all of Annie's chocolates. May was protesting the entire time.

"Really Rem, I can pay-"

"Rem, please, I don't want you to-"

"Rem-" This protest was interupted by a large piece of fudge.

Outside the store, May glared.

Remus blushed. "I always wanted to buy you something. Since it's Hogsmeade, I took my chance."

May's face fell when she realized she wasn't going to get a necklace or anything. But she lightened up when she realized that he had been thinking about this date for ages.

Remus smiled. "May-flower, where do you want to go?"

May thought. "If I said Madame Puddifoots?"

"I would grin and bear it."

"I hate that place. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks."

In the Three Broomsticks, Remus ordered two warm Butterbeers- the drinks of Champions (though Sirius said it was Firewhisky.)

Remus held May's hand over the table and smiled.

She smiled back, saying, "I love The Three Broomsticks. It's such a nice place. I mean, even April's in here. Snogging, yeah, but she's in here."

Remus laughed, asking, "Who's she with?"

"I think it's... oh my god."

Remus whirled around and clenched his fists. He uttered a single word. The one word that could make his blood boil.

"Douglas."

April broke apart from Andrew and smiled. Then she noticed May shocked and Remus, doing all he can to stop himself from beating the crap out of Andrew- or her. Running to them, she began to explain. "Guys, he came up to me yesterday outside and said he was sorry for the way he treated May, he just was doing what his older sister told him to do. Sure, he was a bit of a dick. That was the first thing he said. He asked me to Hogsmeade."

"He's just using you." Remus scoffed.

"He is not! He likes me alot! He held my hand, he bought me my butterbeer, he makes me feel like a princess!" April made a slight face. "He didn't want to kiss me at first, he thought he would be too agressive, like he did with May, but then I kissed him! May, please, I would never do something like this to hurt you."

May nodded slowly. "If he makes you happy... I'm okay with it. I was just a bit shocked."

Remus nodded too. "I was afraid he might of done he opposite, and hurt you to get to May again. If you trust him, I'm okay. Just a bit angry still..." He looked at May with pure love in his eyes.

April smiled. "Thanks, guys."

Remus took May outside, and they walked to the Shrieking Shack.

Sitting on a bench, he looked at her and said slowly, "May-flower... I'm a werewolf."

May's eyes opened wide. "You aren't sick? Your mom's okay?"

Remus nodded. "I'm sorry for lying.. but I had to. To keep my secret safe."

May kissed him. After, she whispered in his ear, "Remus Lorne Lupin, I will keep you secret to the grave. But can I tell the girls before I do that?"

"Of course, May-flower. Anything you want."

May rested her head on his shoulder.

Remus kissed the top of her head. Nothing could ruin this day now. Not after Juliet planted the surprise.

* * *

May rushed up to her dormitory. She heard Alice and Lily scolding April for snogging Andrew, but stopped when April explain. She then heard Lily gushing about Josh Thatch, her hogsmeade date, and May decided to time her entry to save her friends the grossness of Alice's escapades with Sirius.

"MAY! THERE'S SOMETHING ON YOUR PILLOW!" Alice shrieked the minute she saw her.

"By the way, me and Andrew saw you and Remus snuggling by the Shrieking Shack, very cute." April added.

"I was afraid he would be in health to go out today, but he was. He did look sick two weeks ago, though." Lily thought.

"That's because he's a werewolf!" May blurted out.

"He's a werewolf?" Alice asked.

May nodded.

"That explains it. Anyways, open that present on your pillow before Alice wets herself." April said.

May opened the packaging, and gasped when she saw the prettiest necklace in a small velvet box. With a sliver chain and a golden Hippogriff hanging off it, remembering the conversation where she told Remus her favorite animal was a Hippogriff.

"Theres a note!" Alice shrieked again.

May picked it up and read it out loud.

"_My dearest May-flower.  
You didn't think I would only buy you chocolate, did you? Well, surprise. I love you.  
Remus, your one and (hopefully) only werewolf."_

* * *

Inside look to Chappie Six!

"POTTER'S RACING FOR THE SNITCH! OH NO! HE GOT HIT BY A BLUDGER TO THE CHEST! IS HE OKAY? SOMEBODY CATCH HIM BEFORE HE HITS THE GROUND!"

* * *

I think Six will be the hardest yet. I'll be honest with you, I got most of the Slytherin team names from things on my desk. (TD Waterhouse, some manuel that said SOLAR on it.)

9: Aww, thanks! That means alot to be compared to the Great and Almight JK ROWLING! *thunder and lighting clash.* I try to update often, so if I don't, don't eat me or something more unpleasant. I'm just a teenager, here.

RaNdOmGeEk: I feel like asking if you like hedgehogs, you sound like somebody I know. Your username, anyways. But I'm updating, so bear with me here!

Missy396: Yes, Annie's life sucks. It might get a little worse. But I can't tell you if she'll ever fly. I love how you love the story. I feel to lubbed reading your reviews!

LUbbed- My crazy way to say loved. Its more fun, too.

Guys, I'll need some names for the next chapter. 10 should do. I dont want a repeat of the Slytherin team (Ugh... Officesuply names..)

THANKS. Reviews? :D


	6. The Flu And A Quidditch Match

November passed by in a flash for the Marauders, Lily and her girls, and of course, Annie. It was always a bit odd because Annie and Owen were still on rocky terms, and it seemed that more guys were nearing Annie then usual. Or was it visa-versa?

James and Brianne had called it quits at the beginning of December. Brianne wanted some down-to-earth, smart sensitive guy. Not a guy who swears, takes pranking advice from first-years, is totally in love with somebody else and who picks up a book once in a new moon.

Sirius was developing into a bigger womanizer, if it was possible. He was get farther and farther along the bases with every girl he was with. And that made him more attractive to other girls.

Lily and Josh Thatch were still strong... ish. They had their little fights but it was normally made up with a kiss or two. Not really a strong, full out, snog.

Alice and Frank and May and Remus, who were all basically together in a boat, were growing closer and closer with each minute they were together. For Alice and Frank, make that each passing second. I'm not saying they felt more in love. I mean literally, they got closer and closer. Lily and April barely saw them in November, and at the beginning of December, it was getting ridiculous.

So basically, Lily and April spent the first Friday evening of December in the first-year girl's dormitories doing their nails, hair, gossiping and such, but Annie and Samantha had locked themselves in the bathroom so they won't have to suffer the "torture".

"So Black was like, don't be such a slut, and I was sorta like, go find a girl to take that large stick from your ass." April explained to Juliet while doing her hair. "And that's why I hate him."

Lily sighed. "That was second year when you went from flirting with Jeffrey Adams to flirting with Andrew Douglas. Can't you just get over it?"

"Okay one, if it wasn't for that flirt maybe I won't be with Andrew right now, and two, look who's talking!" April snapped.

Juliet winced. "Hair!"

"Sorry, hon." April said, loosening the hair curlers slightly. "Lily, James accidently dropped pudding on you in first year, then called you the 'girl with the dragon locks'. It was an honest mistake, so can't you just, you know, be friends?"

"Yeah, Lil's." Annie called from behind the door. "James always complains how you hate him. He's utterly clueless, that boy. Maybe you can make it up to him after the game tomorrow? Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff?"

"When pigs fly."

"Speaking of flying, theres an owl at the window." Charlie noticed, stopping briefly from reading **Witch Weekly.**

"Is it Artemis?" Annie asked.

"No, it's black and brown."

"That's Reginald!" April shrieked, and opened the window.

Lily held her arm out to close the window again. "April, it's December. It's frigid cold. DON'T TAKE YOUR TIME."

Samantha opened the bathroom door and she and Annie stepped out, and collasped on their beds.

"Reginald is...?" Samantha asked.

"My family's owl. His full name is Reginald the Fifth P. Esquire." April explained, opening the letter. "It's from my brother!"

"Gray? YOUR OLDER BROTHER GRAY?" Lily asked, half shouting, and ran behind April.

"What's so special about Gray...?" Charlie asked.

"He's got the body of Hercules and the face of Adonis!" Lily squealed.

"Uh, Lily, he's still my brother. The one who hit on you. Who also tried to take off your bikini top during the summer."

"Eh, technicalities." Lily shrugged.

"What does the letter say?" Samantha asked.

April cleared her throat. "_Dear April and May. I know it's been a while since since you heard from me, or Mom and Pop, so here I am, closing the gap. (Just so you know, I wrote to June, too). Did you know Mom's pregnant? I bet you didn't, she just found out. It's a bit disturbing, our Mom being pregnant at her age... I nearly choked when she screamed it out at breakfast yesterday. So how's Hogwarts and the Fat Lady? I remember her hitting on me... well, with my chisled jawline in my seventh year, I was irresistable. I mananged to make Proffesor Sprout blush too. Oh yes, speaking of blushing, how's your redheaded friend? Lulu, is it? I can't ever remember her name. Was it a flower? Anyhoo, I'd better go. Things to do, sights to see.  
Your beloved brother,  
Gray Zelan._

Lily clenched her teeth. "He doesn't remember my name?"

"Not ever. He always asks us right before he talks to you." April explained.

"Dick. That's why you always give me a warning look." Lily growled.

"Change of subject. You girls doing 'Match Day' again?" April said hurriedly.

"No."

Charlie turned to look at Annie. "Why not?"

Annie mouthed 'Owen' and shoved another chocolate frog into her mouth.

"What happened with Owen?" April asked.

"Slight disagreement."

"That's bullshit." Juliet said. "He wanted to help you and you snapped at him. You broke his heart."

"I didn't want to talk and he kept prying! What else could I do?" Annie shouted, and with a sob, ran out of the room.

Lily stood to go, but Samantha held her back. "She needs some time. If anybody talks to her now, she'll bite their head off."

Lily sighed. "Is she even going to the match tomorrow?"

"Nope."

* * *

Saturday dawned bright and happy for the Gryffindors. Except for maybe May, who had to rush to the Hospital Wing in the middle of the night because her stomach hurt something fiece.

Lily groaned, and walked slowly out of bed.

"The match isn't going to start any later even if you walk slowly." April said happily.

Alice snorted. "Lily, go visit May in the Hospital Wing if you don't want to go to the game."

"But then it'll only be you supporting April!" Lily said, pulling a sweater over her head. "And Douglas is the opposite Keeper! How the hell are you going to feel supported?"

"I'll live. If Andy can't live with being beaten by his girlfriend, then boo-hoo for him." April began whistling.

"Tell James to catch the snitch quickly this time, so we don't freeze to death!" Alice said.

"I'll try. But we only are ahead by 130 points after that game of Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff-"

"JUST TELL HIM!" Lily shouted, opening the dorm door and stormed out, nearly crashing into Charlie and Samantha, holding up a very pale Annie.

"She was hanging out with May last night. I think she has what May has. But it looks worse!" Juliet explained hurriedly while the other three girls rushed out of the Common Room.

"That... sucks." Lily said, trying to find words.

"Well May has company now! You can come to the game!" Alice exclaimed happily, dragging Lily and April, who told her not to manhandle the Quidditch team, down the stairs (she asked a brave boy to step on the first step then run for his life) and down to the Great Hall.

* * *

May, at the time, was listning to Madame Pomfrey go on and on about the type of flu that she had caught, how lucky she was she didn't have a fever (because excruciating stomach cramps are _so_ much better) and how it's good that nobody else caught it, because she was extremely contagious.

"It's a good thing you have a strong immune system, Miss Zelan, or you would end up looking like-"

"MADAME POMFREY! ANNIE'S VERY SICK!" Juliet screamed, opening the Hospital Wing door to let Charlie and Samantha half-drag Annie in.

"Looking like her?" May asked.

"Yes. You two, put her on a bed and help her into a nightgown! Then leave! These two need rest!" Madame Pomfrey ordered, and rushed to her medicine cabinet.

Fifteen minutes later, with Madame Pomfrey going to the Quidditch Match to make sure nobody got hurt, and Annie's friends chased out of the Hospital Wing, May was alone with a (sleeping) Annie.

"Good morning Quidditch fans!" Remus' voice floated through the air, thankfully, alot quieter. "Boy is it a cold one today! It's the third match of the season, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff!"

"And here comes the HUFFLEPUFF TEAM! Captain and Seeker, Brendon Shortbottom! Chasers, Stanwood, Ashford, and Burby! Beaters, Dowell and McFadden! And Keeper, Douglas!"

"We get it, Remus, shut up!" Annie's irritated voice came from her curtain-surrounded bed.

May laughed. "I don't think he hears you."

"May? Are you here too?"

"Yes. But it seems you caught the virus from me, sorry."

"So that's why my head hurts so much!"

"And the GRYFFINDOR'S!" Remus' voice echoed in the Hospital Wing, making Annie groan and cover her ears. "Beater and Captain, Olivia Wood! Her.." Remus paused, remembering what had happened last time. "Her fellow Beater is Black!"

"LUPIN!" McGonagall's voice was even louder then Remus'.

"Sorry, sorry. Anyways, Chasers Thatch, Hakes and Brown! Keeper, Zelan! And Seeker... POTTER!"

Annie opened her curtains and sat on May's bed, her face nearly transparent with the illness. Yawning, she lied on May's legs.

"Hufflepuff has the Quaffle... Ashford passes to Stanwood! To Burbt! He dodges Bludgers with ease! Yes, it's evident that the Hufflepuffs have been practicing alot recently! Burby throws the Quaffle- BLOCKED BY ZELAN! Gryffindor in possesion of the Quaffle. Thatch passes to Brown, who passes it back to Thatch. Thatch throws it to Brown... Brown to Thatch... Thatch swerves, avoiding a collision with Potter! What is Potter doing? He's flying all over the place! I think he's seen the Snitch, but the Snitch is avoiding capture!" Remus' excitement was seeping in every word.

"POTTER'S RACING FOR THE SNITCH! OH NO! HE GOT HIT BY A BLUDGER TO THE CHEST! IS HE OKAY? SOMEBODY CATCH HIM BEFORE HE HITS THE GROUND!"

Annie sat up. "That was fast." May raced to the window, and saw a red blur being caught by another red blur.

"Black caught him! What a relief! And whats this?" They watched the two red blurs on one broom fly up to the thing where Remus was commentating.

"Remus, you dolt. Jamie got the snitch." Sirius said into the mic.

Not five mintutes later, James was laid in the bed next to Annie's and Madame Pomfrey began reparing his bones.

Annie looked up at Sirius, who was carrying James, and asked, "Why was the match so short?"

"Because us males didn't want anything frozen off in that weather, Anne." Sirius said with a grin.

"Yes, you worry about you freezing things off while she's in the Hospital Wing for a week!" May snapped, then clasped her hand to her mouth, because Madame Pomfrey had accidently let is slip while May could leave on Tuesday, the state Annie was in would make it more likely she would leave next Saturday.

"A week?" Sirius asked.

May nodded, expecting an explosion from Annie's curtain enclosed jail cell.

Sirius poked his head in. "She's asleep. Five bucks says Pommy knocked her unconcious."

"Pardon me, Sirius?" 'Pommy' said from behind Sirius.

"Er... I was just leaving." He said, and hightailed it out of the Wing.

* * *

By Tuesday, May was not released from the Hospital Wing. She had apparantly 'grown worse' and was not to be let out until Saturday.

"The good part, though," Annie said with a mouth-ful of chocolate Wednesday morning, writing a Potions essay, "Is the get well gifts that you receive."

James, managing to sit up, nodded, and looked at his enormous pile of presents. His chest injuries were worse then Madame Pomfrey had expected, because some of his shattered ribs had manage to pierce alot of muscles. But his lungs and heart were, oddly enough, fine. "I can't believe we can't be out until Saturday." He said, looking over his Care of Magical Creatures essay.

"Well... there's only four days left?" Annie said, grinning.

"And after that, a week until Christmas." May said happily.

Annie frowned. "I'm staying at Hogwarts."

"I am too. So's Sirius. Remus and Peter are going home. Alot of people are scared of that nutjab, Voldemort. I think alot of people are going home."

"I'm going home. So's Lily and Alice." May said. "Voldemort is very powerful. He kills villages- pure villages of Muggles."

Annie sighed. "All the first-years but me and Owen are going home. And me'n Owen aren't on speaking terms."

"But it's been a month!" James said.

"I know."

"Wait a second. You, Owen, Sirius and James are some of the only Gryffindor's here for Christmas?" May asked Annie.

"Looks like it."

* * *

They were the only Gryffindors. Some of the Slytherin's stayed, including Juliana Roberson and Joe Pringe. A handful of Hufflepuff's were there, and only seven Ravenclaw's stayed. So basically, it was a very packed Great Hall as most of the school left for Christmas.

Annie hugged Juliet, Charlie and Sam goodbye in a bone-crushing group hug. James and Sirius hinted their Christmas pranks to Peter and Remus, making Remus shake his head. When the carriages left, the walk back to the Common Room was _very _awkward.

Sirius grinned. Awkwardness was the key to making a fun Christmas.

* * *

And there's Chapter six! Is the story moving too fast? I need to make their years go by a bit fast, but I will slow it down at some parts.

And heres your inside look to Chapter Seven:

_Sirius and James ran down the hallway to the Kitchens, and immediatly regretting it._

_"Theres a reason I hate mistletoe." Sirius grumbled._

_"But you don't! You love mistletoe!" James scoffed._

9: Thank you for the names! I was cringing the possibility of more office-supply names. And thanks, it's one of your favs? You're making me blush! (Or squeal with happiness and excitement that theres a possibilty I can actually write Fanfiction.)

Missy396: Yeah, Moony's awesome. And thanks, on the awesomer and awesomer, you know it's good when people use words that should be real words! (And I'm updating, I'm updating. I was a little jammed on this chapter, really.)

I just realized how many people love Annie. That makes me feel good.

Read and Review, loves!

* * *


	7. Mistletoe and a Quiet Moment

Sorry for Chapter Seven being so short. I try to update quickly (demands, and all that fun stuff.)

Chapter Seven! Christmas break and the only Gryffindors are Sirius, James, Annie and Owen. Will Annie and Owen make up? Will Sirius beat Owen into a pulp? Will Sirius get over his protective issues? And seriously, why does Sirius hate mistletoe?

* * *

"Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree, you are so very merry! Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree, how many presents are for me?" Sirius sang, decorating the huge Christmas tree that had been put up in the Common Room.

"Sirius, as much as I love you, shut up, you're giving me a headache." James groaned.

"Besides, Si, Christmas Eve is in six days. Save your good ones for the end (or just don't sing them)" Annie said from her spot by the fire. It was Saturday, beautiful Saturday, and their first day without the rest of their house.

"Oh, Annie, he is." James said.

"Jamie, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sirius asked, grinning.

"Our prank numero Uno?" James replied, grinning winder. "Annie, let's go for a walk."

Sirius waved his wand and said, "_Commenco!"_

Nothing happened.

"Uhm, Si?"

"Let's go." Sirius said, linking arms with Annie. James linked his other arm with Sirius and they skipped out of the Common Room. Or James and Sirius tried to skip, Annie tripped out of the Room and brought them down with her.

"Do you hear that, Anne?" Sirius asked.

"Hear what?"

"Listen." James said, as they neared the Great Hall.

"_Oh, I saw Minnie kissing Dumbledore! Underneath the mistletoe last night...  
They didn't, hear me creep.  
To the kitchens cause I couldn't sleep!  
Oh, I saw Minnie tickling Dumbledore last night!  
They thought I was asleep,  
And I didn't make a peep, cause,  
Minnie snogged Dumbledore last NIGHT!"_

Annie looked around, and saw several House-Elves singing while cleaning the Great Hall.

"We taught them that." Sirius said proudly.

"Commenco was a way for them to know when to start." James said.

"One of them was off-key." Sirius noticed.

"They weren't singing together." James said.

"That's because they need a lead singer to listen to!" Annie said.

"We normally use Peter and Remus. They sing Soprano." Sirius stated.

"They sing?" Annie asked, shocked.

"Oh yeah. Remus loves ABBA songs. Peter just sings the Christmas Carols." James said, sniggering.

"We should go..." Sirius said, thinking. "Minnie might come any minute."

Annie smiled at the House-Elves, who had begun to stare at them. "Keep up the good work, guys! It was beautiful! I loved it! Keep on singing!"

The minute they closed the Great Hall doors, she burst out laughing.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"I just imagined Remus in one of the ABBA outfits. Singing Money Money." Annie laughed again.

"Well he's better at Money Money then Chiquitita." Sirius said, sirius-ly. (A/N: I'm so sorry, I had to.)

Annie began to run ahead, singing.

"Wait up!" James called out, and burst out laughing when he heard what she was singing.

"It's your song, James!" She said giggling.

"What is?" Sirius asked, catching up.

"Tell you in the Common Room!" Annie ran ahead.

"No fair!"

* * *

Monday morning, Owen was awakened by Annie and James singing. Them when he came down the stairs, he saw why Annie sounded exhasperated- Sirius was choreographing.

"Okay, loves, take it from the top!" Sirius said, sitting in a directors chair.

"I wasn't jelous before we met  
Now every man that I see is a potential threat!  
But I'm possesive,  
It isn't nice.  
You've heard me saying  
that smoking was my only vice!

But now that isn't true... now everying is new...  
And all I've learned  
Has overturned  
I beg of you!" James sang.

"Don't go wasting your emotion,  
Lay all your love on me,

It was like shooting a sitting duck,  
A little small talk a smile,  
And baby I was stuck!" Annie looked up, and noticed Owen and began to blush.  
"I still don't know what you've done to me.  
A grown up woman should never fall so easily!  
I feel a kind of fear,  
When I don't have you near,  
Unsatisfied, I skip my pride,  
I beg you dear!"

James, thinking of Lily, sighed, and sang;  
"Don't go, wasting your emotion!  
Lay all your love on me!  
Don't go sharing your devotion,  
Lay all your love on me!"

"I've had a few little love affairs,  
They didn't last very long,  
And they've been pretty scarce-"

"STOP! STOP!" Sirius said into the (most likely stolen) megaphone. "Annie, you're not looking at James enough!" Following Annie's gaze, he said very low, "Hello Owen."

Owen rubbed the back of his neck. "Er.. Hi..."

James, seeing that Sirius was pretty close to killing Owen, asked in a fake hearty voice, "I'm hungry. Owen, Annie, Sirius, want to go to the Kitchens?"

Annie's eyes lit up. "Sure!" She was taken to the Kitchens the day before, and she loved the House-Elves brownies.

"Uh.. Okay, I'm in?" Owen said cautiously.

James, looking around, said, "Damn. This place is a mess. Sirius, help me clean up. You two go on ahead."

Annie scratched her head. "Sure, James?"

"Yeah. You two go."

"C'mon Owen. It's on the first floor." Annie said, leading Owen out.

Around twenty minutes later, Owen and Annie were standing infront of the door to the Kitchens.

"It's... a portrait." Owen said.

"I know, but, I want you to know... I'm sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have snapped. It's just Sirius was getting on my nerves and I just wanted to be alone... Remember the Prophet that day? An attack on an Auror group... it was my brother's. I was so worried about him, I wanted to read the letter he sent me, to see if he was okay... I'm sorry. I bet I could say that I'm sorry a million time and you wouldn't forgive me, the way I treated you when you only want to help-" Owen covered her mouth with a hand.

"It's okay, Annie. I shouldn't of pried. I just hate seeing you sad." He laughed.

Annie smiled, and tickled the pear in the painting. The pear turned into a doorknob, and they walked in.

Sirius and James ran down the hallway to the Kitchens, and burst into the kitchens. They froze.

"Theres a reason I hate mistletoe." Sirius grumbled.

"But you don't! You love mistletoe!" James scoffed.

Because right infront of them, Annie kissed Owen. Right under the mistletoe.

The house-elves looked, and one brave one began to sing, "_I saw Anne kiss Owen underneath the mistletoe last night..._"

"Sh!" Sirius said.

Owen, the back of his neck turning a deep red, said, "Sorry Sirius, y'know, mistletoe."

Sirius mouthed the words 'I hate you.' to James.

James pretended to blush and blew a kiss.

* * *

Christmas Eve came, on that glorious Friday. Annie was putting presents under the giant tree in the Common Room, after the Christmas Eve feast. Calling up the guys' stairs, she asked, "Guys, bring down the presents and stuff! Including the ones that got owled, Sirius!"

James was the first down, carrying a huge load of gifts. "I'm an only child and my parents are kinda old. You could say I'm spoiled to the extreme."

Owen jumped to the floor three stairs from the bottom, and put his presents down. "I have Mitch, his fiancee (who adores me), my parents, and my dozens of aunts and uncles who are childless. I'm pretty much spoiled too."

Sirius came downstairs with a large pile. "My family hates me, except for my Uncle Alphard and cousin Andromeda. She married a Muggleborn. Her sisters, on the other hand..."

"Bellatrix is a supposed Death Eater and Narcissa just married one." James finished.

"So how come so many gifts? Wait, don't tell me... girls." Annie said, rolling her eyes.

"And my Petey, Jamie and Remy!"

James snorted. "You didn't get mine yet."

Sirius stuck his tounge out at James.

"So what's your family like, Annie?" James asked.

"My parents are the only children of only children, my godparents died when I was seven, I have Rich and his fiancee Annie, and my parents are wealthy. My dad is an expert on chemistry and my mom's an artist. I'm not spolied, but I get alot of gifts either way."

Sirius sighed. "I'm bored."

"Me too." Owen said, playing with the bobble on Annie's Santa hat.

Annie slapped his hand away. "No touching."

Sirius' eyes widened. "WE FORGOT!"

"Forgot what?" Annie asked.

"COOKIES FOR SANTA!" Sirius screamed, and burst out of the Common Room.

"Is that the same Sirius Black, ladykiller?" Owen asked.

James nodded. "He has an inner child. You know, reckless. That's why he's a ladykiller. No girl wants a relationship with a guy like that. They just want a quick fling every now and then."

Sirius returned a while later, and what he saw didn't make him very happy.

Everybody was asleep.

* * *

The next morning, the owls were flying by the windows bearing gifts. The Gryffindors had opened their presents and were talking and laughing.

Sirius got a book from Annie, entitled, The Prankster's 1001 Best Charms and Potions. From Remus, a book called, The Beater's Bible. From Peter, a large bag of assorted Honeyduke treats. From James, shot glasses for the game Never Have I Ever that refill themselves with the beverage of your choice. From Frank, a package of coat hangers with a note that said, 'Try them out. Please.'

James also got a book from Annie, called Dust Yourself Off (A book on constant rejection with tips on helping you to be not rejected!) From Remus, he got a book called The Snitch's Secret. From Peter, a Zonko's bag. From Sirius, a pair of Seeker goggles, having broken his when he fell. From Frank, a few pictures on how to put clothes on hangers and a note that said, 'I don't trust Sirius. Put these on his bed canopy.'

Annie had gotten a huge bag of chocolate frogs (her favorite wizarding sweet) from Sirius. From James, a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. To her surprise, Remus had given her a copy of Romeo and Juliet (she had once told him she thought it was sweet), and even more to her surprise, from Peter, a book called Breathe: 10 ways to Relax and Go To The Place In Your Head Where You Feel Free. From her family, she got a necklace with a thin (but strong) silver chain with a big gem hanging off it. Her brother had written and told her that if she thought of somebody while wearing the necklace (like just thinking their name, not random thoughts), the gem would tell her how they are. If it's white and shines, they are alive and well. If it's plain white, they are slightly sick or a have a minor to average injury. If it's gray, they are seriously ill or have a fatal injury. If it flickers from white to black, it mean's they're dying. Black... well you could guess what black was.

Owen got a few things from his family like sweets and clothes. From Annie, he had gotten a book called Dragons Of The World. From his friends, A book that never ran out of pages, perfect for notes. Just give whoever you want to see it a page, then start writing! It will appear on all the torn out pages. He had given everybody a group picture of all the first years, taken on their first night at Hogwarts.

"Let's try out the shot glasses!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Sure." James said, and tapping them with his wand, he said, "Butterbeer!"

"Okay. Never have I ever... crushed on a sibling's friend or girlfriend/boyfriend." Sirius said.

Annie and Owen raised their glasses.

"Hm... Never have I ever... only relied on looks to choose friends or crushes." Annie stated.

James, Owen and Sirius all took shots.

"Okay, I got one. Never have I ever pretended to hate somebody." James said, smirking.

Sirius had his glass halfway to his mouth when he said, "Hey!"

"Just take the shot!" Annie snapped.

Owen tapped his chin. "Never have I ever... kissed a member of the same sex by accident or on purpose."

Sirius and James reddened and took shots.

"What happened?" Annie grinned.

"Well I wanted to practice kissing on a picture of Remus' older cousin- she's pretty damn hot, but moved away to Australia a while ago- and he pushed me away-" Sirius started.

"He fell on my bed, right on top of me." James finished.

Annie and Owen burst out laughing.

"Hmph. Well, Never have I ever pushed somebody away when they only tried to help me-" Sirius got a facefull of Butterbeer. "What gives?"

"Oh yeah. They shoot the liquid at you if you lie."

Annie quickly took a shot.

"Never have I ever... slept with somebody." She said proudly.

Sirius took a shot, growling, "You better not have."

James stared at Sirius while Annie stuck her tounge out at Sirius.

"You...?" James asked,

Sirius grinned and mouthed the words, 'Few weeks ago.'

"Ahem." Owen said. "Never have I ever... been a dick for no reason."

Sirius took a shot.

James grinned. "Never have I liked the person who I pretended to hate."

Sirius raised his glass and shouted, "HEY!"

"JUST TAKE THE DAMN SHOT!"

* * *

New Years Eve came quiet for the four Gryffindors. For James and Annie, anyways.

"ONE MINUTE!" Sirius called out to the balcony where the two were standing.

Annie and James looked up at the sky. "Missing Lily?" She asked.

James nodded sadly. "Missing your family? Worried?"

Annie bit her lip and held her necklace. James wrapped his arm around her. "I'm worried for my family too. My parents are both Aurors- their lives are always on the line. Sometimes I don't know if one day I'll wake up and be alone."

Annie leaned into him, crying silently. "Me, too. Rich is an Auror... that puts my whole family in danger."

James rubbed her shoulder. "We'll be here for you if anything happens, Annie."

"TEN!" Sirius and Owen shouted, both slightly sloshed. "NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

For the two Gryffindors out on the balcony, they were both happy. They ignored the dangers that would soon come, they didn't worry about the future.

Because they both realized something.

As long as you have one friend left with you, you will never be alone.

* * *

WAHHH! I teared up writing James and Annie's little talk. Listen to The Winner Takes It All from Mamma Mia when you read that part. When I wrote James' feelings about his parents and how he's scared, the song went, "The gods may roll the dice, their hearts as cold as ice, and someone way down here, loses someone dear."

I'm a bit confused on what to do for the next chapter. Skip ahead to March, then the chapter after that be the last day and their summer drama? (I'll have a summer drama every year until Annie graduates, and yes, it'll go on that long.), or the first few days of January, a small snippet of Valentines day (I won't be enthralled if I write it, but it's you reading it.) then go to March, chapter after that be the last day and summer drama?

Tell me what you think.

MrsMalfoy9: Dude, I put ALL your names on the team! You were the only one that offered names! Besides, Shortbottom = awesome. Chapter six was short, sorry. I was a little rushed, as I said at the beginning of this one.

Missy396: YAY! It feels good to write a story that gets Awesomer and awesomer.

Please tell me what you think on my Chapter 8 dilema. I'm so confuzzled!

Read and Review, my doves! 26, SIGNING OFF!


	8. Valentines Day and The Goodbye Feast

After the break, life returned pretty much back to normal. Sirius had sworn James, Owen and Annie to secrecy on what had happen on Christmas Day, but it didn't stop from Annie and James telling Remus and Peter. But they soon forgot it when the relationship between April and Andrew had grown very public, which had made Sirius retaliate with more and more escapades with the school girls.

Lily and Josh broke up over the break. He was tired of never getting anywhere. Alice and Frank, thankfully, toned their relationship down, and so did Remus and May. You see, as Valentine's Day approached, guys got finicky and girls got giddy. Valentine's Day was a Sunday, so it meant no Hogsmeade trips, and it also meant classes the day after, which was very joyful.

The day before Valentine's Day put everybody into a panic.

Annie, who was lying bored on James' bed, watch Remus and Frank throw around Valentine's Day ideas. "Guys, why did you leave it until last minute?"

"Because," Remus said simply, "We get nervous and put things off way too much."

Juliet, from her perch on Remus' bed, snorted. "During Christmas you were so excited, and when Mom asked Auntie if you had a chance to get a girlfriend, you snapped at her and said you were in a 'loving relationship that has so far lasted four months'. By the way, Annie, I got to go finish my essay for Slughorn."

"Am I the only first year that finishes the assignments when we get them? I mean, Sam doesn't and she's the smartest out of all of us!" Annie complained as Juliet shook her head and left.

Sirius ran into the room and slammed the door. "Crazed... girls... Valentines..." he panted.

James rolled his eyes from his seat on Peter's bed. "Admit it, you love it."

"At breakfast, yeah, when all those owls come swooping down." Sirius ruffled his hair. "Make's all them other guys jealous."

James laughed. "Yeah. I get a lot too, remember!"

"Not as much as me!"

"I bet I'll get more!" James said proudly.

"Okay. If you get more, then I'll run around the Great Hall dressed as something. Don't know what. If I do, you do the same thing." Sirius spat on his hand and held it out. James spat on his hand and shook it too.

"I have a good thing for the loser." Annie said. "The loser runs around in a giant heart costume- and they also have to scream random garbage about love and stuff. And if a teacher tells them to stop, they have to run out of the hall and evade capture."

"Damn, girl, that's cruel. Perfect, but cruel." Sirius said.

"Says the player who snogs a new girl every other period." Annie looked up at James' wooden canopy. Taking out a small camera, she took a picture and put the camera away quickly.

"What was that flash?" Frank asked, freezing.

Remus, standing at an angle to see Annie staring at the canopy, said, "Lightning."

"Ohmygodwhatifitrainstomorrow?" Frank said, panicking. "I'll have to replan everything!"

"What are you planning?" James asked.

Frank suddenly looked alot like the golem, and hissed, "It's my ssssssecret."

* * *

Valentine's Day started out... well it started out odd. At breakfast, Sirius and James had a count-off... and they had a tie. So both of them ran around in a giant heart costume (yes, one costume. Annie's a bitch when it comes to bets) and screaming Shakespeare.

Around one o'clock, Remus took May for a walk.

May frowned when she saw the destination. "The Quidditch Pitch?"

Remus laughed and smiled. "Yes. But just wait."

And there, in the middle of the pitch, was a small picnic blanket with a basket on it. May's eye's widened and she ran ahead and opened the basket. In it was sheperd's pie, chocolate cheesecake, and a few butterbeers. It was all of May's favorite foods, even though she knew Remus _hated_ chocolate cheesecake. He always said that cheese went with fruit, cheese went with wine, cheese went with crackers, cheese went with ham, so because chocolate didn't go with ham, cheese doesn't go with chocolate.

"Turn around." Remus said, and when May did, she saw an old film projector (charmed by magic, of course) and a large white screen. On the screen were the words: _May, a marvelous mystery._

May sat out on the blanket and Remus started the pictures faded onto the screen; pictures of her as a baby, her as a child, her with her Hogwarts letter... then came the words... _And along came Remus..._ and pictures of an 11 year old Remus smiling shyly at May. Pictures of them hanging out, then she saw a picture of the notebook that he never let anybody open- it was full of drawings and the words **RL LOVES MZ** and hearts. Then she saw a picture of Remus asking May shyly to meet him at the lake and words came up that said, _And that's how this happened._ Pictures of May looking out her window on Boxing Day, biting her lip sadly, and Remus running up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, her turning and kissing him, a picture of Remus handing Juliet a box and pointing up the girl's stairs only moments before May ran downstairs on Halloween, pictures of Remus holding May gently, and then, the final picture was of Remus tapping on May's shoulder, and her turning, and then Remus covered the camera with his hand.

May was awestruck. Then she felt Remus tap her shoulder. She turned, and he held up a sign that said, _I love you. I can't propose, we're only fourteen. Maybe this isn't supposed to happen._

May's eyes teared and she opened her mouth, but he held up another sign. _If this wasn't meant to happen then I'm glad I broke the most important rule for the most important girl. May, this isn't a proposal. It's a promise. A promise that one day, when we're older, I will marry you. Because, May Zelan, I love you more then anything._ Then, out of his pocket, he fished out a ring. It was small, made out of silver, and had a tiny ruby in the middle. On the inside were the words, _It's better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all. _

May threw her arms around him and kissed him. It could of lasted hours, it could of lasted a century, but neither of them cared. They were in love. And that's all that mattered.

* * *

Alice waited by the lake, almost about to burst into tears. Frank had told her to meet him there. She was waiting for ages (in reality, it was only a few minutes) and he still wasn't there. Looking up at the sky, her jaw dropped. Fireworks were above her, big brilliant fireworks, that said, _Alice, I would never stand you up. _

Biting her lip, she cried out, "But you're not here!"

_You're not looking hard enough._

"What? I looked everywhere! On the deck, by the shore, on the grass, by the tree-" Her eyes opened wide. "Up the tree?"

No fireworks.

Running to her and Frank's tree were giant sparkly words. _Alice, I would never fail you _and a picture of a flower. Alice ran around the school to Herbology.

And there, outside of Herbology, were the words, _Now go to your dorm. _Confused, Alice obeyed.

And there, on her bed, was a white rose. And a note. _This rose means alot. Maybe I chose it because white is innocent, and you are pure. Maybe I chose it because the rose is your favorite flower, and the flower of June, your birth month. Maybe I chose it because white is your favorite colour. Maybe I chose it because the rose symbolizes love. But I think the reason I chose this flower was because you told Lily, on Valentine's day in second year, that your ideal fantasy would be finding a white rose then finding your Prince standing outside your window._

Alice ran to her window and opened it. And sure enough, on a broom (most likely borrowed from James or Sirius), was Frank Longbottom. He pulled her out of the window and put her infront of him and flew away, the two of them laughing because they are fools, fools in love.

* * *

While May was admiring the promise ring she had received from Remus and Alice, well, it's best not to say _what_ Alice was doing with Frank on the island in the Black Lake, but when May and Alice spent time with their princes, April was doing her makeup for her date with Andrew. In a matter of minutes, she was about to be pampered. She was every year, so why should this year be different?

April, looking at Alice's beaten up clock, bolted out of her dorm and nearly ran into Andrew outside of the Common Room.

April smiled. "Hi."

Andrew looked her over. "You look nice." Taking her hand, he walked with her up to the Astronomy Tower. On it was a blanket. Sitting her down on it, he sat down next to her.

April smiled to herself. 'This is it. Those three syllables that every girl wants to hear. I will finally hear them for myself.'

Andrew scratched his ear. "April..."

"Yes?"

"It's over."

April's jaw dropped. 'Not those three syllables! No!'

"You see... it was nice... but I don't think you're for me..."

April wiped away a tear. "But... but..."

"April, I had originally gotten with you to get May. But then I saw how you cared for me... and thought maybe I could change... But it didn't work. I like May, I always will. I tried, it didn't work." He said forcefully.

"But, Andy-"

"Dont call me that!" He shouted.

"I love you!" She screamed.

He slapped her and grabbed her wrist. "Then I suggest stopping."

* * *

Annie and Owen were walking together by the Astronomy Tower. They heard screams coming from the door, and Annie rolled her eyes. "People need decent Sound-Proofing Charms."

Then she heard April scream, "I love you!" And a sharp slap split the air.

Annie's hair turned red. Clenching her fists, she looked at Owen. "I'm getting help. You try and stop it."

"But I'm not good with spells!" Owen protested.

"Please?" Annie begged.

She heard April say that she loved him again. She broke off into a run.

* * *

April winced. Andrew hit her again. "DON'T SAY THAT!" He bellowed at her.

The door blast open. There stood the most unlikeliest of heroes. Owen, standing there, looking slightly confused. "_Expelliarmus!"_ He said, poiting at Andrew (thankfully, after this, we all get to hate on him and call him Douglas), who was blasted into a wall. "_Stupefy!_" He said again, to make sure that Douglas wouldn't get up.

"You okay?" He asked, helping April up.

She nodded shakily.

"Annie would kill me if you weren't." He said, filling silence.

"She... sent you?" April asked, not sure why Annie didn't come in herself.

"Yeah. She ran off to get help. Even tho' I'm not very good at spells..." Owen muttered, uncertain.

"You'd go to the end of the Earth for her, wouldn't you?" April asked.

Owen nodded.

The door opened again, and behind Annie, was Sirius, Lily, Remus, May and June. Lily, May and June ran over to April and hugged her and cried and said that Annie was so freaked out and that they were so scared for her.

Sirius, Remus, and Annie looked at the unconcious form of Douglas. Remus raised his wand, but Annie stopped him. She kicked Douglas hard in the... well it's not a very nice place to be kicked, let's leave it at that.

"So we won't have any Mini Douglases when _our_ kids are at Hogwarts." She explained, and walked over to April, her hair still a violent red, though according to Lily, June and May, it was white- as in so scared your face is white, sort of thing. April opened her arms and Annie hugged her.

Remus knelt down to Douglas. "_Rennervate._"

Douglas opened his eyes weakly. Sirius knelt down and punched him so hard that they were shut tight again.

Looking around, he said, "Let's go."

Walking out, Annie hung around for Owen. Walking next to him, she held his hand and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. You were very brave."

Even though something unfortunate happened, even though April had a broken heart, everybody agreed. It was the best Valentine's Day yet.

* * *

The rest of the year flew by for everybody. Exams came and went, and soon enough, it was the day before the carriages came. Lily was packed, May was packed, Alice was packed, and April... wasn't. She was waltzing with a rather disturbed Archie The Cat. Lily rolled her eyes. "April... are you okay?"

April looked up and smiled. "Just spiffing, my nifty friend."

May looked up in shock. "Since when did you attempt Oldspeak?"

"Um... since now?" April tried. It didn't work.

Alice took Archie from April. "What's got you in a such a mood?"

"Sirius asked me if we could be friends!" April exclaimed.

"You're happy?" Lily asked.

"No more dirty looks! No more rumors! No more wars!" April said.

It clicked. "Oh..."

"Why don't you try it, Lily?" April asked.

Lily grinned. "I already did. Last night. I asked him at the beginning of fifth year we could start over. I'm tired of this petty hatred, it's not worth it."

* * *

Annie poked her head in the fourth-year boy dorm. "Guys, howsit going with the packing-! James!" She laughed. James was waltzing with himself.

Remus smirked. "Lily told him that she wants to start over in the fall. Isn't that right, Jamie?"

"Friends! Friends! We can be friends!" James said dreamily.

Annie walked in and sat on Remus' packed trunk, only to be forced back up again when James picked her up and started waltzing with her.

Peter, who was a whiz with photography (he took most of the pictures in the Valentine's Day slideshow. Except the ones of May as a child), brought out a camera and took a picture, which showed James dancing with Annie while she was laughing, Sirius mouthing something, which was 'James, you sly dog you!' and Remus shaking his head while shaking in a silent fit of laughter.

"Peter, if James ever let's me go, I am going to kill you!" Annie shrieked when James twirled her. "By the way, why does James dance so well?"

"Well..." Remus said, before Sirius took over.

"When James Harold was a young lad, his parents decided to make sure he was cultured as possible." Sirius said in an Irish accent. "So they put him in dance lessons with Mister Potter's work friend's daughter. Her name, was Alice Carroll. Now, Alice wasn't the lightest of foot, so James worked extra hard to impress his parents. And that's why he has the feet of an angel."

"Okay?" Annie asked, her hair sweeping the floor when James dipped her. "James! I'm getting sick.. too much spinning..."

James continued to waltz with a dreamy look.

"James?" Remus asked.

"For christ's sake!" Annie said, and for a moment, her face went blank. Then she had red hair and green eyes, and was around the same height as Lily.

James shook himself. "Lily?"

'Lily' nodded.

James let go of her.

Then Lily had a blank look and Annie was standing there once again.

James frowned. "Hey..."

"If you can't convince them, confuse them." Annie said with a shrug, and walked out of the room.

* * *

The Feast was a joyful thing. Every single student was talking, laughing, or just plain happy.

Sirius and April were joking around about Douglas. Lily sat next to April, and across from James, and shot him a smile. Frank had his arm around Alice, and Alice was holding his hand that was on her shoulder. Remus and May were speaking quietly to each other. Annie was laughing with Sirius and April. A few minutes before, she was sitting with the rest of the first-years, but wasn't exactly happy.

"You can go if you want." Evan said.

Samantha nodded. "They are your friends too."

Annie shook her head. "But you guys are my age, and my friends, it's not fair! I havent spent enough time with you guys!"

Juliet sighed. "Annie, we'll have all the time in the world when they graduate. Besides, we have you all to ourselves during classes, at night, in the morning, during Quidditch practice. And we'll always be here for you."

Charlie smiled. "Annie, we know how they all look after you and how you're all sort of like, one big family. You have the right. We never took it personally."

Tristan nodded. "Yeah, Anns-"

"Don't call me that."

Tristan laughed. "Anns, we'll always be here for you. When they graduate, you can start hanging out with us again."

Annie looked around. "Guys... what if you guys start not liking me for hanging out with them too much?"

Jordan smiled at her. "That will never happen. Like Tristan and Juliet said. We'll be here for you when they leave. If you fight with them, we're your backup. If you need advice and are afraid to ask them, just come to any of us."

"And theres still the nights, missy." Charlie said. "We have you then. When Fifth Year comes, we can be tight again."

Annie sighed. "Fine. But I'll always try to hang out with you guys sometimes."

Owen grinned. "We wouldn't expect anything less."

So that being said, Annie had walked down to the fourth-years and Sirius made some bashful second year move over for Annie.

Dumbledore stood up, shaking Annie out of the little space in the back of her head where she could go to relax (because that book that Peter gave her really worked). "Students, it has been a very long year for some, and a very short year for others. We have had our moments. For those who are leaving, I wish you luck in the paths that you choose. For those who aren't, I am looking forward to seeing you next year."

Dumbledore clapped his hands. "Now, the winner of the House Cup..." He clapped them again and the drapes hanging in the hall turned red and gold. "Is Gryffindor! On top of that, they also won the Quidditch Cup. I think some congratulations are in order."

The hall erupted into applause, because in the final match, Slytherin had very good odds.

Dumbledore raised his hand and said, "Let the feast begin!"

Once again, like before, the plates in the Great Hall had filled up. But unlike the beginning of the year, Sirius wasn't shooting anybody death looks. Annie wasn't embarrased. April wasn't in a full out hatred with Sirius. Lily didn't cringe when James looked at her. Remus and May were together like they should be, May wearing her promise ring on her ring finger with pride.

Okay, I was lying a bit before. Owen was still staring at Annie. And Sirius still glared at him.

Some things never change.

* * *

Year's Over! There's only a train ride, and a 'sleepover' before the Summer Drama starts... you Annie lovers will NOT want to miss Chapter Nine in the most shocking thrill ride of the story (so far)!

Okay, I'm not good at advertising. Sue me.

ShimmyBabe: I did do what I thought was the most important. I wasn't originally going to do the Valentine's day, but I realized that May and Remus were getting pretty close, and he couldnt propose. I also hate Andrew Douglas and wanted him to get slugged. (Can an Author hate her creations? Personally, I'm a bit different. But I do love Owen. I took him off a video game character. Teehee.)

Naturally Potter: I'm glad you liked James cornering Sirius. It was supposed to be James not knowing who the girl is and him asking Sirius for the next two years, but this works out better. And yes, Lily gives James a chance. Makes more of an impact for the OWL confrontation, don't you think? And yes, the necklace becomes very important. I had a bit of an idea for a sequel to this following the life of Annie's daughter in the war, and in the end, she and her older brother set off to find Annie and the way they know it's her (she went missing. It's a bit confusing but at the end of the story it makes sense) is the necklace. By the way, I love your display picture.

Missy396: Yeah, I love Never Have I Ever. I normally win it when I play, because I don't do alot of stuff. (In my game, you lose when either A: you quit or B: You go to the washroom. It can last a while.) And isn't Frank a genius?

I apologize to any Irish people who I may have hurt with Sirius, but it sounds so much better with an Irish accent.

Guys, Read, Review, Relate, Hate if you want, I love getting reviews. I respond to ALL my reviews on the story, and if you don't want me to, just say it.

26, SIGNING OFF.


	9. Confusion, Tickling and Death

* * *

Warning: 4,706 words.

HELLO! Ah, my readers. I suggest you sensitive ones have a box of tissues before you read this. Hell, you tough ones grab a few tissues just in case. I might need one, and I planned this chapter out WAY before I started writing The Family. I would like to make a shout-out to all my fellow Canadians. Okay, a shout-out to everybody reading this. You're so awesome, don't ever change, loves! Until my author's note at the end,  
Adieu. (Yes, I'm bilingual. And I so can't spell that word.)

* * *

Sirius waited impatiently in the Common Room. 'I told her 9, right?' he thought to himself, figiting with his robes. "OI!" He called up the Girl's Staircase. "DO YOU _WANT _TO MISS THE CARRIAGES?"

"SIRIUS! I'M COMING! BREATHE!" She screamed back.

Putting one foot on the bottom staircase, he heard a shriek. "Oh bloody he-" He said before being fallen upon.

Annie looked at him angrily. "Sirius! I'm still in a skirt!"

"Well pardon, Miss I-Take-So-Long-To-Reminise-In-My-Dorm-Room!"

Annie sighed, and straightened her hair. "It's hard for me to leave places, Si. I just want to remember my room before leaving."

Sirius helped her up. "Anne, you're coming back. You get to spend two monthes with your parents and your brother. Maybe James, Peter Remus and I'll visit sometime."

Annie smiled. "Yeah. Daddy'll pound you into a pulp if he sees you near me. Either that or send you evil looks. They can make even _you_ shudder with fear."

Sirius wrapped his arm around her and led her out of the Common Room. "I guess I'll have to use the Black Charm. It's more powerful then the Potter Charm, I assure you."

Annie let out a bark of laughter. "And you're not as bigheaded as James."

Sirius smirked. "I know, aren't I fantastic?"

"I take it back."

"Meanie."

"Says the boy who made a girl slide down a flight of stairs. In a _skirt_."

"Says the girl who... erm... says the girl..."

Annie smiled innocently. "You've got nothing on me!"

Sirius grinned evily. "Maybe I'll tell your Dad that you kissed a boy under the mistletoe. Then again on Valentine's Day."

Annie stopped and gasped. "How did you-?"

"I have my ways. And the fact his friends were teasing him about it later."

Annie glared. "Don't you dare, Sirius Orion."

"Or what, Anne Evangeline?"

"I'll tickle you!" Annie tickled Sirius' neck. He twitched, trying to get away.

"Stop!!" He cried.

James, who was watching, leaned over to Lily and said, "Sirius Black, ladykiller of Hogwarts, has only a few weaknesses. They are Annie, His Friends, Girls, Quidditch, Muggleborns, and tickling."

* * *

The compartement which the Marauders normally sat in was very full. Not only did it have the four boys, but it had Lily and her friends, as well as Annie, and occasionally a few first-years.

Halfway through the ride, Sirius jumped up. "I know what we can play!"

Annie, who was sleeping on him, said "Hey!" when she hit the seat.

"What, Sirius?" Peter asked.

"Never Have I Ever!" Sirius exclaimed, digging his magical shot glasses from his bag.

"Sirius, love, don't you remember, we played it on Christmas and you got piss drunk. Off of Butterbeer." James said.

"No I didn't! I switched mine to Firewhisky when you weren't looking!"

Annie rolled her eyes. "That explains more then it doesn't."

Remus and May, who was sitting on Remus' lap with his arms around her waist, shot eachother a look that said, 'I can't believe I know this guy.'

Lily sat on the floor. "Let's play!"

April reluctantly sat down next to Lily, and Alice on Lily's other side, grumbling, "I hate this game. I always get sloshed."

"That's why we're using Butterbeer." Remus said, sitting on the floor and pulling May onto him again.

Annie sat next to James and leaned on him. "You have softer shoulders then Sirius does."

"Well I have manly shoulders. I do fifty push-ups a day." Sirius stuck his tougne out.

"The only exercise you get is Quidditch. You're a Beater. Enough said." Peter stated from James' other side, and June nodded from next to Peter.

Annie looked up at Sirius and pulled him down. "Sit, fool, or we can't play."

Sirius arranged the shot glasses. Everbody pulled out their wands, tapped their glasses, and said "Butterbeer." Or Sirius tried to say "Firewhisky, but Remus stopped him.

"I say Lily starts." Annie said.

"Fine." Sirius pouted.

"Never have I ever... lied to my friends." Lily said.

Peter, Remus, May, April, Sirius and June all took shots.

"Never have I ever... held a grudge too long." Alice said, as Annie, Lily, April, June and Sirius took shots.

"Never have I ever... done somebody." June said. "Like... slept with them. Gone downtown and got funky. Painted the white walls red-"

"We get it!" Sirius said. He took a shot, as did Alice, May and Remus, all blushing furiously.

Lily whirled her head around and looked at May.

May shrugged. "That's my lie."

"When?" April asked.

"Valentines Day..." May blushed and Remus buried his face into her neck in embarrasement.

"I'm guessing the slideshow worked?" Peter asked.

Remus lifted his head a little. "More then worked." And he winked.

James whistled. "You sly dawg!"

Annie sat up. "Never say dog like that again. Ever."

Peter sighed. "My turn?" Everone nodded. "Never have I ever... been caught in a broom closet."

"Never?" James asked as he took shots with Lily, Sirius, May, Remus, everbody except Peter and Annie.

"Never been caught." Peter wiggled his eyebrows.

James whistled. "You sly d-"

Annie held her hand over his mouth. "Don't even say it- Ew!" She wiped her hand on him. "You licked my hand!"

"Never have I ever... pretended to hate somebody." James said.

Sirius raised his glass. "HEY! NOT AGAIN!"

James looked at Annie. "Can I?"

"Knock yourself out."

"Just take the damn shot!"

Annie looked at her glass. "Never have I ever..." She smirked. "Kissed somebody of the same sex accidently or on purpose."

James glared at her. "I hate you." Sirius muttered darkly.

Annie giggled. "I love you too! Oh and, take the sh-"

"WE KNOW!" James and Sirius shouted.

Lily wolf whistled. Remus and Peter looked at eachother and burst into a fit of silent laughter. Alice patted June on the shoulder laughing, and April said, "I didn't know you played for both teams!"

"Hmph. Never have I ever..." Sirius paused. "Gone down on somebody?"

May, in a huge blushing fit, raised her glass. So did Remus.

Everybody's jaws dropped. Annie burst out laughing. "You players you!"

Peter was laughing so hard he cried. "I can't believe it worked that well!"

April paused. "Never have I ever been told that somebody loves me."

Remus raised his glass, so did May, Alice and June.

Lily got a faceful of Butterbeer. "Never have I ever... pranked somebody."

Annie, Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter raised their glasses.

June raised her eyebrows. "Annie?"

"Who do you think gave them the idea for the ballerina outfits and the blonde hair?"

"Point taken."

"Never have I ever... cheated on somebody." Alice said happily.

Sirius raised his glass, while May said "Thank god!" and kissed Remus.

June chewed her gum. "Never have I ever... stolen something."

Remus paused. "I stole May's heart, does that count?"

June nodded. Remus and May took a shot, as did Alice and Sirius ("Stole the virginity of many Hogwarts girls," he explained. "And Remus' megaphone.")

"Thats so cheesy Remus." Peter said. "Never have I ever... gotten away with a prank."

Annie raised her glass. Sirius and James sighed dreamily.

* * *

The train stopped at King's Cross sometime in the early evening. Sirius was helping Annie with her luggage when he heard her shriek, "RICHARD!"

All the fourth years turned as they watched Annie run into her brothers arms. Lily nudged Sirius. "That's her brother? But he's blond, and tall."

"I know. I'm confused too." He whispered back.

Then April and May saw their parents. Grabbing June, they ran over to Gray, and their parents. Their mother holding a baby in her arms.

The triplets quickly ran back and excitedly said, "We have a baby brother! His name is Nicholas!"

Sirius smiled. "My cousin Andro just had a baby girl. Her name's Nymphandora."

Lily waved to her parents. Before she was about to leave, April grabbed her arm. "My mom says you and Alice can visit sometime during the summer! Ask your parents!" Lily nodded and ran towards her parents and wrapped her arms around her dad's neck.

Frank dragged Alice to meet his mother, Remus introduced May to his parents, and that left Peter, James and Sirius standing there.

Annie ran back with her brother for her luggage. While Richard picked up her trunk, Annie hugged each of the three boys.

Sirius remembered something. "Annie, when's your birthday?"

"July 26. See you guys!" She said before walking off with her brother.

"Oi, Sirius. You coming to my house this summer?" James asked.

"Yeah. July 9 till the end of the summer."

James laughed. "Sounds sweet."

* * *

Lily jumped up and down on her bed, waiting mail. It was July 11, and James had said he would write- No. No. April was writing about staying over at her house for a few days. 'But James is writing too!' a voice at the back of her head said.

"Oh, shut up." She told herself.

'Admit it, you are starting to fancy him.' The voice said.

"The day I fancy James Potter is the day April snogs Sirius!" She said.

'No, that's the day you decide you want to be the mother of his children.'

Lily froze. Could it be? Was she really starting to like James Harold Potter?

* * *

That night, at around 8 o'clock, James and his family, along with Sirius, (his father joked about adding Sirius to the family potrait) relaxed after dinner.

"So James, how are you getting along with Lily?" Harold Potter asked, reading the Daily Prophet.

James reddended.

"Who's Lily?" Bethanie Potter asked. "Your girlfriend?"

"A girl who James is practically in love with, but who hates his guts." Harold said, turning a page.

"Dad!" James said.

"Oh Harry. Lily has asked Jamie here if he would like to start anew. He was waltzing with Annie not five minutes after." Sirius said. James threw a leftover carrot at him.

"Annie?" Bethanie asked.

"A first-year girl who Sirius has taken on the role of her older brother, because her actual older brother is ten years older then she is." James said.

"Is she pretty?" Bethanie asked.

Sirius gaped. "Not like that!" he spluttered.

"Is she?" Harold asked.

Sirius nodded. "Long brown hair, blue eyes with a golden ring-"

"Able to metamorphose?" Harold asked.

James nodded.

Harold grinned. "Her brother Richard is in Auror Squad 3- My group. Graduated a year early from the Auror training. Though not the brightest, his heart's in the right place."

Green flames appeared in the fireplace, a panicked Richard ran out of it.

"Speak of the devil!" Harold said.

Richard, face pale, managed only to say a few words. "Death Eaters... attack..."

"How many? Bethanie asked.

"F..five..."

"Where?" James asked, helping Richard to sit down.

Looking up, with sad tearful eyes, he only managed to say one word.

"Home."

* * *

Not a minute later, Bethanie and Harold were gone. Richard had been asked (ordered, really) to stay at the Manor. It was risky for him to go, seeing that it was attacking his house.

Sirius sat looking at his hands. "You must be scared for your fiancee."

Richard looked at him strangely. "Sirius, she doesnt live with me yet. It's more special when we get married that way."

"Your roomates, then?" James asked.

Richard looked at them both, now a little angry. "I live at my parent's house. With Annie."

Sirius froze. He slowly began crying.

Richard hugged Sirius. "She was such a quiet baby... unless she was sad. Me and my parents were a little scared. She didnt speak. She spoke her first word when Dumbledore came to tell my parents I was a wizard."

"What was it?" James asked.

Richard gave a sad smile. "It was Dumydore. It was right after he told my parents of what Annie was... her face lit up when he walked over to her and picked up her up. Her hair turned gold. She was so happy when he came again when she turned eleven. I was there. She was so shocked the only words that she could say were, 'Dumydore, you've gotten old,'. I also remember him telling her how to control her metamorphing better. I miss her already! I know they can't save her! They blocked off the house!" Richard punched a nearby chair, breaking it.

"What was happening when you left?" Sirius asked.

"Well it was a new house. Not alot of furniture, only empty dressers and a tv in my parent's room. And a bed. Other then that, it's empty. Our stuff's at our old house. We were picking out rooms, and we had just decided Annie's. It had a little alcove that she could climb a twirling staircase to get to and stare out the window. She was so happy. Annie had told us how much she missed us and how much she loved us when we heard a loud crack. My mom said it must be my fiancee, she was coming over for dinner. I looked out the window and saw five Death Eaters. I begged my mom not to go. She told me to get my Dad and Annie out, or to get help. I told her that I loved her." Richard's face crinkled up. "I told Annie and Dad that I would go find the Potter's. Annie told me that she loved me. So did my Dad. When I was leaving, Annie was running with my Dad behind her, carrying his shotgun. Then there was a flash of green light coming from the door. That's when I left."

"She might still be alive?" Sirius asked.

"Are you kidding? They can't get in. She and Dad can't get out."

James' eyes lit up. "Then we can go."

"James, don't be so stupid! You two are underage and can't do magic!" Richard snapped.

"Yes. But you can fight the Death Eaters. We can save Annie." James retorted.

Richard got up. "No." Walking towards the fireplace, he stepped in, saying, "Heart Cottage!" What he didn't expect was that James and Sirius would jump in after him.

* * *

The three of them stepped out. "You little idiots!" Richard screamed, shaking Sirius and James.

Sirius slapped his arm away. "We're here, you can't go back, neither can we. Live with it."

There was a creak outside the door. The three of them froze.

The door opened slowly, and there was a Death Eater.

"_Defodio!" _Richard screamed, aiming his wand at the fireplace. "RUN YOU MORONS! RUN!"

"_Avada Kedavra!" _The Death Eater screamed, aiming at Sirius and James.

"_AVIS! OPPUNGO!" _Richard shouted, directing the birds to stop the curse.

The Death Eater turned to Richard. "Heart." He spat. "Once again saving the day."

"Well, I do have to save them. I mean, if they saw your face, they might die instantly!"

"Fool!" The Death Eater hissed. "You will die, Mudblood scum! _Crucio!_"

Sirius, halfway out the hole in the fireplace, paused.

"Sirius, you lingering here won't help him-"

"DADDY! BEHIND YOU-!"

"_Avada Kedavra!_" A thud hit the floor on the level above them. A menacing laughter rang through the air.

James turned to Sirius. "What the hell did we get into, befriending that little girl?"

"I don't know."

There was an explosive sound from the room behind them.

Richard came out. "I didn't know Expulso could be used to make people explode. I decided to try it out." He said, seething with rage, as he ran off.

Sirius and James walked around the house, trying not to be killed. They found themselves at the doorway. James tripped, and caught onto Sirius.

"Hey!" Sirius whispered.

"There's somebody here. Under me." James said, panicked. Looking down, he saw the face of a woman looking back at him. He jumped up.

The woman lying there was Annie's mother. Her eyes gave it away. The eyes that were on Richard and on Annie stared blankly into space, short strait blonde hair fanned out around her.

Sirius choked. "She looks so... peaceful. Like she was ready to die."

"She was," James said, tears rolling down his face. "She was ready to die for the safety of the man she loved and her children. Annie's worst nightmare had come true."

"What?"

"New Years... Annie told me she was worried about her family. Being a Muggleborn, she was in danger. Her brother being an Auror intensified that danger. I'm scared for my family too now."

Sirius knelt down to pick the body up.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"Making sure she won't get any more-" A booming noise echoed through the air.

"What was that?" James asked again.

"The barrier!" Sirius shouted, and half ran out of the house, carrying Annie's mother.

"JAMES? SIRIUS? WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Harold screamed furiously.

Sirius put Annie's mother down at his feet.

James look at his father and said angrily, "Dad, we convinced Richard to go... we wanted to go too, so we jumped into the fireplace at the last minute. He saved our lives. And who do you think broke the barrier? Annie? Of course Richard's here. He can't sit around and wait for his entire family to die."

Bethanie ran to hug James and Sirius. "You stupid, stupid boys." She said crying, smacking each of them on the head softly. "I don't see how we can even ground you. You're so brave, my boys. If anybody survives-" Sirius bit his lip. Bethanie hugged him again. "If there is at least one survivor, and my money's on Annie, they'll be so happy you saved their mother from more harm."

"Why do you think Annie'll be the survivor, Mum?" James asked.

Harold put his arm around his wife. "Because Richard would rather go to Azkaban then let his sister die without him trying to save her."

There was a flash of red coming from the house. Two agonised screams came from it- one feminine, one masculine.

Sirius tensed up. James held him back from running into the house. "Are you crazy?" James asked. "You'll die!"

More flashes of red and more screams. Two crazed laughs echoed throughout the house.

"Only two?" James asked.

"Richard took down two." Sirius said.

"And Beth took out one the minute we arrived." Harold said.

More and more screams came from the house.

"Isn't somebody trying to get in?" James asked.

"The house is half destroyed. The have to dig their way in and avoid a bunch of traps the Death Eaters put down. It'll take ages, if they don't die." Bethanie explained.

James looked sadly at the house. It was indeed half destroyed, maybe even more so. Half of it was caved in- what wasn't was beautiful. White stone was and dark blue shutters around the windows. Black shingles on the roof made the house very nice. Turning around to stop looking at the house to speak to Sirius, he froze.

Sirius was gone.

* * *

"Annie?" Sirius asked. He had gone through the back of the house, and felt slightly guilty for leaving James. He had found his way into Annie's parents room, and was pulled into their closet.

Annie nodded. But it didn't look like Annie. Her face was twisted in permanent pain. A dark gash ran from her temple down her neck. It was bleeding uncontrolably. "Th-th-they k-killed Da-daddy..." She was shaking.

"Why're you in here?" Sirius asked.

"Ri-Richard chased a-after the t-two p-people. Wh-who are th-they?"

"Death Eaters."

Annie hiccuped. "Rich-Richard pu-pushed me in he-here."

The door opened. Sirius dived and knocked the person down, while Annie ran out.

"Sirius?"

"James?"

James pushed Sirius off him. "Dude! This is life or death! Don't be running around!"

"Look at you! You came in here after me!" Sirius pushed James angrily.

James froze. "Where's Annie?"

Sirius whirled around. "Oh shit."

The wall behind them burst slightly. A hole revealed the next room. Crowding around the hole, they saw Annie run in and Richard coughing and lying on the ground, telling her to leave.

"Ri-Rich?" She asked.

"_Crucio!_" Two Death Eaters walked out of the shadow. Richard stood up infront of Annie, who was twitching. "Leave her alone. She's just a kid!" He pleaded.

"Oh, Richard Heart, you don't understand. She's a mudblood. She is nothing less then your father's blood under my shoe." A voice sneered.

Sirius tensed up. "Bellatrix." he growled.

The Death Eater next to her kept on using the Cruciatus Curse on Annie. Richard turned and flew at him and knocked him down.

Bellatrix whirled. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

An earspliting shriek filled the air. The Death Eater pushed Richard's body off of him and aimed his wand at Annie. "_Incarcerous!_"

Bellatrix looked at Annie. "I'll have the pleasure of playing with you. _Crucio!"_ Annie screamed in pain.

James held Sirius from running at Bellatrix.

Bellatrix looked around, and saw a large cabinet. Waving her wand, the cabinet fell... on Annie's legs. She screamed louder.

Suddenly Bellatrix grabbed her arm and said, "It's over. Come." and disapeered out of the door.

The second Death Eater looked at Annie and raised his wand, hatred radiating off of Annie's face.

"Darin! Come!"

"But she's not-"

"She will die. Come!"

He Disaparated.

Harold Potter ran into the room where James and Sirius were.

"Are you two okay?" he asked.

They both nodded.

He led the two boys outside. Sitting them down by a tree, he wrapped them in a blanket and gave them some Butterbeer.

"They have all the bodies. We have two Death Eaters. And three of the Heart's." Harold said. "What happened to the third Death Eater?"

Sirius laughed softly. "Richard made him explode."

"I see." Harold frowned. "Beth's trying to stabilize Annie, then transfer her to St. Mungo's."

Sirius got up and ran towards Bethanie. He came back five minutes later, crying.

"She wasn't breathing."

Bethanie ran after him and kissed the top of his head. "I got word from Mungo's. They found a pulse."

* * *

Don't be hating. You see, in the next chapter, you will be aww-ing.

I cried when I thought of this chapter a year ago, before I wrote it. I cried when I decided that her brother wouldn't be captured and taken, Annie would watch him die. I cried when I put myself in Annie's shoes. And I cried when I re-read this chapter.

Either this chapter is a tearjerker or I cry way too much.

Missy396: They're going to have that competition ever year. Same rules, different punishment.

Naturally Potter: Like I said, I respond to all my reviews in the story, if you don't want me to, just say it. Its not Anthony, it's Andrew, and yes, he's a dick. He didn't stalk May during his relationship, but you could sense the dumping the minute there was only a blanket. I hope this chapter was as shocking as you could take it. Lots of James, lots of Sirius, a little Lily, and a hell lot of drama. Aka, Anne Evangeline Heart. (remember at the first chapter? I said one of the girls had a life torn by misery, which was her brother's death, then more to come, which was her family's murder and a hell lot more.)

ShimmyBabe: Nah, Annie won't get with Sirius at any point. You'll see why next chapter. (and NO, she doesnt die!) And thank you berry berry much for the Sirius-ly suggestion. I might use it with them plotting about JL or maybe Annie slapping him upside the head because of Little Miss Heartbreak. (Aka, sibling of the marvelous mystery named after a marveling majestic month.)

Hey guys. Read, Review, Rate, Maybe Hate, Cry, Why? Why did they have to die?, And most of all, PIE.

I actually only like chocolate ice cream pie. I'm sorta weird.

Bon voyage, au revoir, Vingt-six se vole! (Dans les banques ou la ciel.)

You see, vole is french for fly and robbing, so in banks and in the sky. I had a french yearbook. My friend wrote that as her ambition.

For the non-french people out there, This is 26. Signing off.

PS: Please please please review, guys. I'll give more shoutouts! I'll include your names in a chapter! And I swear I won't make you another Douglas (unless you want me to). Nothing makes me happier then pausing my Is It A Good Idea To Microwave This episode and check my story, and see theres a review. Ah, mes amours, you spice up my life.

Okay, you guys are probably creeped. 26, signing off. (for real.)


	10. Waiting, Funerals, and Revelations

Sirius paced in front of James in the lobby of St. Mungo's. It was only a few hours since Sirius and James found out that Annie has a chance. Now James' father was trying to found out which floor she was on.

"Sirius, breathe. They managed to find a pulse. I bet she'll be awake and waiting for us." James said boredly.

Sirius wrung his hands nervously.

A Healer walked up to the two and smiled. "Can I help you boys?"

Sirius shook his head while James nodded. "My Dad's at the desk over there, but since you're here; can you tell me where Anne Heart is? She was-"

"In a Death Eater attack last night?" The Healer asked.

Sirius scratched his head. "Yeah."

"Fourth Floor, if you want I can lead you there. She's in a private room." The Healer bit her bottom lip. "I was so shocked when she came in... doesn't deserve what happened..."

"Er... sure?" Sirius said while James ran off to grab his dad.

"This way. So are you relatives of Annie?" The Healer asked.

"Friends." Sirius said.

"I know. Annie told me that Annie didn't have any aunts, uncles, grandparents, or godparents before the incident," The Healer explained, before stepping into a lift. "Just making sure you're not Death Eaters in disguise."

"Annie as in..." James bit his lip in thought. "Richard's fiancee?"

The Healer nodded. The lift reopened, and she led the three down a long hallway. Nearing the end, she opened a door and ushered them in. Inside the room was a young woman kneeling over the bed. She she stood up, Sirius and James noticed she had an engagement ring on her left hand, and she had long black hair with shining gray eyes. But her face showed grief. She held her hand out. "Annie Mikals."

Harold shook her hand. So did James and Sirius. Annie quickly walked out of the room, and said to the Healer, "I finished fixing up that gash. It's still fragine, I think it was caused by a curse."

Sirius ran up to the bed. Annie was lying there, eyes closed, with a large tube in her wrist. Another tube was attached to her nose, and a small moniter was up, showing her pulse. James went onto the other side of the bed. Her large gash was closed up, thin and white. The skin around the former gash was very red. Sirius looked up nervously at the Healer. "Is she okay?"

The Healer looked slightly sad. "She looks like she's napping. But she isn't. She's in a strong..." The Healer sighed. "She's in a coma. From our tests..."

Sirius' head snapped up again. "From your tests..?"

"She has four days. There are four possibilities that might happen. First, she might wake up perfectly fine. Second, she'll wake up with no memory of who she is- whenever her memory comes back depends when she wakes up. Third, she'll wake up, but, in Muggle terms, be a vegtable. Not speaking, no moving, just alive. Sitting there. The fourth..."

James and Sirius looked at each other worriedly.

"The fourth, she never wakes up. She dies."

* * *

James poked his head into Annie's room. "Dude, it's like 11 o'clock at night. You going to get some sleep?"

Sirius shook his head and held Annie's hand.

James sighed. "Sirius... it's been twenty four hours. Three more day's."

Sirius looked at James sadly. "James... she's like my little sister. That day on the train, when I spaced out, I was looking into her eyes. I could practically see all her emotions, thoughts..."

James grinned. "Why did you think I jumped in there with you? Same thing I saw on New Years..."

"James... what do you think is going to happen to her... if she wakes up fine?" Sirius asked. "She has no family friends, and no relatives. Her brothers fiancee is in grief, and besides, she's pregnant. Annie won't impose on her. Will she go to an orphanedge? Will she continue to go to Hogwarts?"

James' eyes lit up. "What if..."

"What if what?"

"My parents could take her in!" James said.

"That's great!" Sirius said exitedly.

And they both ran out. When they came back twenty minutes later, they could of sworn they could see the ghost of a smile on Annie's face.

* * *

July 13.

Sirius paced around the room.

James poked his head in. "I got a reply from Remus."

Sirius looked up.

"_Sirius, James, what the hell were you thinking, going into a Death Eater attack? You could of died! I'm so grateful you two are okay... but I can't help but think the fact the two 14 year old boys managed to live through an attack unharmed, except for slight shock, is a bit stretched. Because it's not logical. But enough about you, is Annie okay? What's up with this four day buisness? I'm going to visit St Mungo's later today with Peter. What floor is she? Or maybe just wait in the lobby, around 2? Great. Sounds like a plan.  
Remus."_

"Okay, Remus isn't believing us. The girls don't know and Peter was having a total panic attack. What else can go wrong?" Sirius asked.

"Annie dieing, the girls being invited to the funeral and then totally beating us into a pulp?" James asked.

"Yeah. But they probably read the Prophet." Sirius said. "There was a large article on the attack, remember? And a picture of us sleeping against the tree."

"_Teenage heroes help save bodies of the deceased and the lone survivor."_ James reread the caption.

Something tapped at the window. Sirius and James whirled around to see Reginald.

Opening the window, Sirius grabbed the letter and opened it.

"_Sirius, James, how come we just read an article on a Death Eater attack and theres a picture of you two AT THE ATTACK! WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING? ARE YOU TWO INSANE? AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? There's only the names of the deceased. Gwen, Derek, and Richard Heart. Who's the survivor? Are they okay? Are you okay? Okay, I'm rambling. But seriously- what the hell were you thinking? And how did you get there? It said something about you two jumped into the fireplace as Richard was leaving... wait. He's an auror? His last name's Heart? Oh god. Annie...?  
Write back NOW!  
April, May, June, Alice and Lily."_

"Damn. They're insane." James said, as he sat down to write a reply.

* * *

"Yo. James! Remus and Peter is here!" Sirius ran in, Remus and Peter behind them.

James stood up and dusted off his hands. He was just sorting some of the few things that were in the house, and most of them were incinerated, so his hands were covered in ash. "Hey guys. Care to help?"

They nodded, and sat down to work.

Sirius pulled out a perfectly fine, though slightly dirty, teddy bear. Placing it next to Annie, he sighed. "Two days..."

"Until...?" Peter asked.

"There's no more hope." James said, pulling out a photo albulm, dusting it off.

Remus' eyes widened. "What the hell did they do to her?"

Sirius grinded his teeth. "Crucio'd her for at least ten minutes, gave her some magical gash, tied her up in suffocating ropes and made a large heavy cabinet fall on her legs."

Remus sighed. "The odds arent in our favor. 25% she'll be perfectly fine. 75% she won't be, no memory, no brainwaves, or no life."

Peter nodded. He picked up a small metal box. "What's in here, do you reckon?"

"Open it." James said.

Peter did, and gasped when he did. He pulled out a large blue stone. "What the hell...?"

Remus stood up and walked over to Annie. Reaching around her neck, he undid her necklace and held the stone next to the jewel Peter was holding. "It's the same. I say that at one of Richard's training camps, he went into a cave and found this rock. It's really rare, too."

Peter put the jewel back into the box. Sirius got up and held it. It flickered from white to black, and all the colour drained from his face.

"She's dying."

* * *

July 14.

James held Annie's hand as Felicity, the Healer who had led them to Annie in the first place, told him and Sirius that there was little hope left for Annie.

"It would be best to let her go now. We have a potion that-"

"No." Sirius said.

"But sir, there's no chance-"

"There's always a chance!" Sirius said angrily.

"Sirius... maybe she's right..." James admitted, tears rolling down his face.

"No!" Sirius screamed. "I am not giving up on her! Theres still twenty-four-fucking hours and I intend to see it through!"

Felicity nodded, and ran out of the room. She walked up to Harold Potter very square in the eye and said, "Your boys are some of the toughest I've ever met, Mr. Potter."

"What do you mean?"

"Most people can't hold out this long knowing theres barely any hope. I've seen so many parents, brothers, spouses and friends let their loved one go. My only fear is that Mr. Sirius will not be able to let go."

* * *

July 15.

James and Sirius sat crying by Annie's side, begging her to wake up. Felicity stood opposite them, Bethanie and Harold in the doorway.

James wiped some of his tears away. Swallowing his pride, he went over to his parents and buried himself in their hug.

Sirius stayed next to Annie, holding her hand.

"You coming, son?" Harold asked.

"I... I need a moment..." Sirius said quietly.

Felicity nodded, and followed the Potters out.

"Annie..." Sirius started. "I can't belive I'll never be able to hear your voice again. Just a month ago, we were laughing. Talking. I was always telling my friends how I would kill whoever would hurt you. I was ready to help you back up. You would of become a fifth Marauder. It was you that made me realize that I didn't hate April... I like her alot. It was you that helped Lily swallow her pride and see past James' exterior. It was you who made me not to be afraid to let my inner child out. I promise you, Annie, I will make sure Bellatrix and that Darin guy go to Azkaban for everything they did. I lo-." Sirius gulped. "I love you, Anne Evangeline Heart. You will always be my little sister, even though I never had the chance to tell you. I know James feels the same way. That's why we ran in to save you. It was all for you." Sirius leaned down and kissed her forhead, his tears falling on her face. "Goodbye, Evan."

He was just about to open the door when he froze. He leaned against the door and burst into tears.

A few minutes later, he had his hand on the doorknob. But something stopped him.

Looking back, with his sad tearstained face, and opened the door to go to the lobby where James was waiting.

"Sirius, why are you crying?"

Sirius whirled around. "ANNIE!" He ran next to her and hugged her with all his might.

She squeaked. "Ribs... ribs... can't breathe..."

James burst in. "ANNIE!" He ran next to Sirius, shocked.

"What... how... when..?" He said in a hurry.

Annie started crying slowly. "I heard you guys... I couldnt get to you... but then I saw Richard. He said it wasnt my time. I woke up."

James and Sirius hugged her (softly, this time). She threw her arms around them (with a slight wince) and started to bawl like a baby.

Bethanie poked her head in, "James? Sirius-!" She yelled for Felicity and Harold, who came running into the room.

Sirius let go of Annie and James kissed her forhead before letting go.

The three adults gaped at the tearstained little girl. Felicity ran up to her and did a form of complex spells.

Annie blinked.

Felicity looked up. "She's in near perfect health- besides the fact most of her muscles are bruised or torn."

Harold looked at her. "She's nothing short of a miracle."

Annie blushed.

* * *

The next day, Annie was sitting up, and most of her muscles were doing well.

Sirius sat by her, and James sat at the end of her bed.

"Annie... we know you're trying to stay happy... but your entire family is gone-" James started.

"I know." She said plainly.

"So, how about we plan the furnerals?" Sirius asked, trying to stay cheerful.

Annie smiled a sad smile and nodded.

"Gravestone material?" James asked.

"Black granite with white lettering."

James looked at her.

Annie smiled. "That's what all the Heart gravestones are made from."

Sirius nodded. "Any decorations?"

"Roses on the corner of Daddy's, tulips on the corner of Mama's, and poppies on Richard's." Annie said. "Hearts also have their favorite flower engraved on the top right corner of their graves."

Sirius bit the quill. "Memoires?"

"For Daddy, Derek Heart, expert in chemistry of all sorts. It was his and Mama's little joke. For Mama, Gwen Heart, sometimes the best art is the type that you could paint in their head. For Richard.. Richard Heart, Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus."

"The Hogwarts motto?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. James' dad told him that when he was training."

"He tickled a sleeping dragon?" James asked.

"He was dared to tickle your dad in his sleep."

James winced. "Even worse."

* * *

Annie was released from St Mungo's July 19th in the morning. She was going to stay at the Potter Manor for a few weeks (or so she thought) and when she saw the place, her jaw dropped.

To her, the Manor was a place from a fairy tale. But she was even more excited when she saw her room. It had another floor. There was a small swirling staircase to lead to the second floor of her room, which was half the size of the main part. She had decided to put her bed and dresser on the second floor, with a small cat castle for her two cats, Queen and ACDC. Later that day, she sat on her bed. Looking down, she saw the back of the Manor. There was a Quidditch Pitch, a large forest encircling the entire thing, and a large pool with a waterfall. She looked around the first floor of her room. There was a refridgerator, a large sofa, a TV, a desk, a laptop computer, a microwave (next to the fridge) and a table with a few chairs. A tear rolled down her face. The only reason she got such a huge room was that she had alot of her family's possetions. Most of the more personal stuff was in the attic (the Manor was HUGE), except for a few items that were special to her family.

Getting up and walking down the stairs, she opened her room door and looked up and down the hardwood hallway. The walls were covered in a red wallpaper with golden designs in the middle. She was trying to find the library. She accidently found her way into James' room.

It was even bigger then her room. It also had the second floor, and she was guessing Sirius' room did too. The walls were covered in red paint with golden lions. The four-poster bed had a deep yellow bed covering. The dresser and desk were covered in picture frames. The walls had posters of brooms, a few pictures of the Marauders, and the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

She walked out of the room and turned into the room right next to James'. It was Sirius' room. The walls had a red and gold paint as well, except his bedsheets were a deep red with a bit of black threading. Gryffindor flags were hung, scarves were tied around bedposts, and the vanity was wearing a Gryffindor hat. He was really trying to make a statement.

Annie opened the door again and walked out, and managed to find her way back to her room. Throwing herself onto her bed, she gave up holding it all in. She burst into tears.

* * *

On July 20th, April was woken up by Lily dumping water on her. It was very cold. She saw her siblings and Alice all waiting impatiently, dressed. May held out a letter. "It's addressed to all of us, but your name is first, so you have to open it." She said with a slight frown.

"Who's it from?" she asked.

"It was Artemis, but the letter has Sirius' writing."

April nodded and broke the seal.

"_Dear April, June, May, Alice, and Lily.  
I sadly have to be writing this letter for Annie. Any thoughts of this now brings her to tears.  
The Death Eater attack was on Annie's family, and she was the only survivor. She was in a coma for  
four days, and everybody thought there was no hope for her. James' parents are trying to let the Ministry let them  
be her foster parents, so she can live with James' family and still keep her identity. Yes, me and James were at the attack.  
Yes, we're fine. But what I'm writing about isn't._"

_You are hereby invited to the private furneral of Derek, Gwen, and Richard Heart. It is on July 21st. It starts at 5pm.  
Please owl back your response.  
It would mean a great deal to Annie if you five showed up. Owen is coming, as is Juliet, Jordan and Samantha. Her other friends are away or cannot make it due to previous engagement. Remus and Peter are also coming.  
Sirius Black, on the regards of James Potter, on the regards of Anne Heart."_

Lily covered her mouth with her hand in shock. May's face blanched. June shot a glance to Alice. How could Annie, the happy-go-lucky girl they had met only in September, be the only Heart left?

"Well..." April said. "Are we going?"

"Uhm. DUH!"

* * *

The five girls arrived at the cemetary in Godric's Hollow. They all joined hands and walked together nervously. Then somebody tapped on May's shoulder, and she screamed bloody mary.

"May!" Remus said soothingly. "It's this way." Holding out his hand, she took it.

When they walked into the small gated off area, they saw only 20 people or so. There was a few of Richard's friends, there was Annie Mikals, and there was also Mad-Eye Moody and Harold and Bethanie Potter. The rest of people were Hogwarts proffesors. There was Proffesor Dumbledore, Proffesor McGonagall, and there was also Rubeus Hagrid, the gameskeeper who had befriended Richard. There was also Proffesor Flitwick, who was Richard's favorite proffesor. There was Proffesor Slughorn, having Richard in his exclusive club. All the teachers were huddled up and conferring, while Hagrid spoke to James and Sirius.

"Where's Annie?" May asked.

"With Sirius. You'll barely recognise her. I didn't." Peter said, who had joined the group. As they walked up the James and Sirius, James moved aside, revealing Annie who had Sirius' arm around her shoulders, as if he was going to stop danger from touching her. Annie did look different. Her long brown hair, which was a little dark, was now shoulder-length and was more like ebony. Her bangs were long, and they hid a long scar that ran from her face down her neck, stopping at her collarbone.

She smiled sadly and waved. Alice nearly burst into tears. "She's only twelve. And she's scarred for life."

"That's not it. We think she lost her ability to metamorphose." Remus whispered. "That darkness is natural. I saw her in the hospital, it was brown with a hint of darkness. Next, today, it's so much darker."

June sighed. "But look at her... she looks so fragile... but so beautiful..."

Lily walked up ahead and hugged Annie. She stood stunned for a minute, then hugged back.

She and Sirius walked away to speak with the other girls and some of the first (second, really) years who came, and Lily leaned over to James.

"Why did she pause?" She asked.

"She's not very comfortable with hugs. She was in St. Mungo's, when she woke up, but now... she's so sad. Sirius and I spend most of our days wondering how to cheer her up. Last time she had a smile on her face was when my parents asked if she could be their foster-daughter. That was six days ago." He whispered.

"Six days without a smile..." Lily bit her lip. Annie almost always had a smile, and never went a day without one.

Dumbledore stood up on a small stage. "May I have your attention? Thank you. Now, we are gathered here for a very sad occasion. The funeral of Auror Richard Heart, and his parents, Gwen and Derek Heart. They were murdered on July 11 by Death Eaters. Now, the reason, most likely, is because Gwen and Derek Heart were Muggles. That does not give them an excuse to die. That just makes the act more saddening. The worst thing, perhaps, is the fact that they also had two other children. Robbie, who had died four, almost five years ago at the age of six, and Anne, who is now orphaned, and was forced to watch all her loved ones pass on.

"'It is not the big things that make the man, Proffesor,' Richard had once told me. 'It is his noble and small acts. If a man promised to do something, even if it ruined his own life, if it made him give up one of his dreams, he has to fufill the promise. If a man is small, weak and unintelligent, but stays to his word, he is more of a person then somebody who can transfigure their desk into a pig with their eyes closed, but can never keep a promise.' He told me that when I told him his grades were not the highest, and would be unlikely to be accepted into the Auror program. I asked him why I should recommend him. After he said that, I felt as if I was forced to.

"Richard Heart was a noble and brave man. He loved and forgave easily- once there was an attack on a home of somebody who used to beat him up at school and insult him in his first year. He ran in to save that person and his family. He also would do anything for those he loved. He had given his own life to save his sister. He had made a promise to his sister, a promise which he had kept to his grave." Dumbledore looked sadly at one of the three graves, the on on the far right. "He was not only to noble one in his family. His parents were noble on the two occasions I had met them. The first, when Richard came home from his Muggle school on the last day. I walked in while he ran up to see his baby sister. His father tried to beat me with an umbrella. His wife ran to hide her kids (though very pregnant herself). They quickly apologized and allowed Richard to go to Hogwarts. The second time was when his younger sister turned eleven, a year ago. They were happy to see me again, and I spent nearly an hour there telling them about the Wizarding World." Dumbledore chuckled slightly. "I recall Derek telling Richard when he was eleven, 'Never tickle your sleeping siblings!' after Richard accidently woke up his baby sister. He had a slight trouble remembering not to tickle sleeping things in the future. I also recall the Hearts asking me what was wrong with Anne when she was crying, because her hair was blue. I replied, 'Absolutely nothing!'" He looked around. "And that is what's wrong with all Muggles, Muggleborns, and Wizards. Absolutely nothing."

* * *

Much much later, back at the Potter Manor. Sirius was teasing James on how much time he spent with Lily. James shushed him and began to skip down the hall. Until they heard a small meow.

It was ACDC, one of Annie's two cats. Sirius walked towards it, and it bolted into Annie's room.

They walked carefully into her room to see her asleep on her bed in a large white wool sweater and a pair of brown courdoroy. When they got closer, they saw she was crying in her sleep. Sirius shook her awake.

"Sirius..." she said, and threw her arms around his neck and burst into tears.

James rubbed her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Annie hiccuped, obviously already falling back to sleep. "I had a nightmare... they killed my brothers."

Sirius paused. "Anne, your brothers have already passed on."

Annie curled up, with her head on Sirius' lap. "Not you guys."

* * *

Hey, guys! Chapter ten, over and out! There's more to people that meets the eye. Who knew Sirius liked to chase cats, eh?

Next Chapter: Birthdays, Diagon Alley and Trains.

Missy396: Glad you liked the game.

GryffindorkinSlytherinColours: Why would I do that to Annie? Well, this makes it so Annie has no attatchments- which makes it easier for her to help hook people up in the future. She doesnt really start focusing on her own relationships until around James and Lily's seventh year. But I'm glad (?) you cried, means I wrote that chapter well.

ShimmyBabe: Yeah, they arent meant to be. They're meant to be sister and brother (ish). And Sirius and Lil Miss Heartbreak haven't snogged yet- or have they? Remember what they said at the beginning of the year- The day Lily realizes she wants to marry James is the day April gets _caught_ in a closet with Sirius, which is the day people catch Owen and Annie snogging. So I can't say if they have for certain yet.

RaNdOmGeEk: Why did they have to die? Well, as I stated for GISC, Annie has to be a free spirit. No family or guys tying her down (but she will start dating in her 3rd year, but it's not Sirius, or serious relationships.)

Naturally Potter: Yeah... I think it'll always hit people hard how this happened. I made Sirius sad to show how much he cared about Annie. This year will be pretty happy-ish for the fifth years, but not exactly for Annie. Why? Well, whatever chapter November is, you'll see. (Yes, another pre-planning.)

Enjoy, everybody. I won't say how much I lubb you guys in french during this chapter. And I don't know spanish. Or mandarin. Or Welsh. I think learning Welsh would be so cool! They have the coolest names for everything!

Okay, I'm getting carried away. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, the most mood-swingy yet, of, The Family.

26, UP, UP, AND AWAY~


	11. Birthdays, Diagon Alley and Trains

One the twenty-third of July, Sirius and James were in James' room. They were going to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies with their friends. Bethanie Potter had decided to go buy Annie's things the day before the funeral, "She's in no state to go." She said.

"Okay, how can we cheer her up? Diagon Alley would of done it!" James said, petting Queen, Annie's other cat, who was curled up on his chest.

"I don't think she's eating either. The House-Elves that go up don't really come back with an empty tray." Sirius said from his perch on the end of James' bed, looking at ACDC. "But she's not all we have to worry about- fifth year. OWLS. And our plan to help Remus..."

"We'd be fine if we knew the key! Becoming an Animangus is hard, and we can't exactly ask for advice." James said.

"Remus and Pete are coming over on the twenty-sixth, right? We can practice then."

"Yeah- OH SHIT." James jumped up.

"What?"

"Annie's birthday! The twenty-sixth! Three days!" James squeaked.

"We have the gift from her family. We just need ours." Sirius shrugged.

"Uh, how can we give it? Her family just died!" James exclaimed.

"Remus will know. Remus always knows." Sirius said positively.

* * *

"I have absolutely no bloody idea."

"But Remus! You always know!" Sirius pleaded, infront of Florean's Ice Cream Shop.

Peter rolled his eyes. "He knows alot. He knows you're madly in love with-"

"Sirius is in love? Oh, DO tell." April said, sitting very close to Peter, with May and June behind her.

Sirius shot Peter a death glare. He blushed. "Uh, nobody, just joking around, you know, because 'Remus always knows.'" Peter said hurriedly.

"Oh." April fell back in her seat.

"For us, it's 'Lily Always Knows.'" June said.

"She's Prefect, did you know?" Remus asked.

"Seriously... how do you know all this?" James asked.

"Lily got the letter, wrote to May, who wrote to me? It's connections that gives me all this info."

"Hey... I have connections!" Sirius said.

"To various sluts and girls who are so easy they giggle at everything." April said.

Sirius' face fell. "Eh... yeah... I'm gonna go to buy some kneepads for Quidditch..."

James jumped up, offering to go with him. April got up and ran over to Alice and Lily, who were entering Florish and Blotts.

June blinked. "What just happened?"

May shrugged. "I think April likes Sirius, and when Peter said that he was just kidding around, her face dropped."

"I KNOW Sirius likes April. He told Annie... in his goodbye speech. He told me and James after." Remus said.

"Then lets hook them up!" June squealed.

"But what about James and Lily?" May asked.

"Oh yeah..." June said. "Like what?"

"James loves Lily, and I think Lily's starting to like him." May said.

Remus nodded. "James is so... he still thinks he has to impress her. I swear, he's going to go back to his old ways to make sure she'll like him."

"Then why don't we work on James and Lily?" June asked. "Remember the bet? The day Lily realizes she wants to marry James is the day we catch April and Sirius together. Then Annie and Owen."

Peter rolled his eyes. "It's just a bet. Not like somebody cast a spell."

"It happened at Hogwarts." June reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Anything can happen."

* * *

Later, outside of Gringotts Bank, everybody was talking, laughing, and secretly, silently, very discreetly, flirting. In Lily's case, anyways.

"So, Lily, do you have any siblings?" James asked, turning to Lily as everybody else laughed at Sirius for having another blond moment.

"Yes. One, her name is Petunia." Lily sighed. 'He stopped asking me out. Does he still like me?' she thought to herself.

"Tell me about her." James said.

"She's taller, with blond curly hair. She has a really long neck, and big teeth. She reminds me of a horse. She's also dating a man who looks, and acts, like a whale. My mom showed me a picture of him. If they get married, their child would be so horrific."

"Maybe even a freak, eh?" James grinned.

Lily looked down.

"What did I say?" James asked.

"Freak. My sister... she calls me that. Ever since I got my Hogwarts letter... and she didn't. She's older then me, and thought she could go too, they just forgot... she hates me now. Calls me a freak." Lily bit her lip.

James smiled softly. "You just need to let her know that you're still Lily Elizabeth Evans, her sister, and that you love her no matter what. If I had a sister or a brother, I would make sure they knew that everyday." He hugged Lily, who hugged him back and buried her head into his chest, silently thanking him.

From the group, June nudged April. "Maybe Lily wants to bear his children, eh?"

April twirled her hair around her finger, and gave a slight glance to her right, where Sirius was laughing with Peter and Remus.

"Maybe." And she silently hoped it was true.

* * *

On July twenty-five, James and Sirius were a little confused. Peter had gotten the idea of everybody sending gifts to James and Sirius the day before, and they could put them in Annie's room on her bed, before she woke up on the twenty-sixth. The problem was sorting the gifts out.

"Remus was silver wrapping, right?" James asked frantically, holding up a gift and a card. There was a slight accident, where Queen, with her newborn kitten named Prince, had decided to jump onto the pile of presents. All the cards went flying.

"No, May, June, and April was the silver wrapping!" Sirius said, shooing Prince and Queen out of the room.

"No, they were the golden wrapping with the black polka-dots!"

"That was Peter!"

"WHY IS THIS SO CONFUSING?" James asked, shaking his fists at the ceiling.

Sirius paused. "Why don't we just open the gifts a little to see what's inside?" He lifted up a three red packaged that were attached to eachother.

"Wait. That could be June, May, and April's! There's three!" James exclaimed.

Sirius jumped for joy. "Here's the card!" He said, handing the card to James, who Spellotaped the card to the packages.

James picked up another package. "This one is a book... but more wide. Photo albulm?"

"The second-years!" Sirius said, and grabbed the Spellotape.

James picked up the golden wrapping with the black polka-dots. "This is more of a regular book. Sort of thick."

Sirius sighed. "Remus... is he always so educational?"

James shrugged, and reached for the Spellotape. "Sirius."

"Yeah?"

"Where's the Spellotape?"

"It's on the bed." Sirius answered, picking up the silver package. "This must be Peter's."

"Sirius."

"By the pillows."

"No... where's the presents?" James asked.

Sirius whirled around, to see the presents that they had JUST identified were... well... gone. Sirius blanched. "Oh... mah... gawd..."

James looked at him. "Never say 'god' that way again."

"So the pot is calling the kettle Black!" Sirius snapped, then slapped himself.

"Yes, the Pot is calling the kettle Black." James POTter said. (A/N: Just helping you guys get it.)

"Well where the hell are they?" Sirius asked, running his fingers through his hair.

"I don't know! They were there a minute ago! Now they're gone!" James bit his lip.

"This is your fault!" Sirius spat.

"How is it my fault?" James demanded.

Remus, leaning on James' cupboard with an armload of gifts, elbowed Peter and rolled his eyes. "Over here, guys."

Peter walked up to James and handed him his broom. "You've been focusing on Annie long enough. Let's go play some Quidditch."

Sirius jumped. "But... her birthday..."

Remus put his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Is tomorrow. Breathe."

* * *

Outside, James threw the Quaffle to Peter. "Strip Quidditch?" He asked.

Peter shook his head. "It's only guys. Besides, strip Quidditch with four players? Ugh."

Remus nodded with Peter. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to see you all playing in boxers."

Peter's eyes lit up. "Theres always Annie..."

Sirius whirled around. "Don't you dare!"

Peter laughed, and hopped on many of the Potter's broomsticks. Flying up to a goalpost, he sighed. "Just regular shots then?"

Remus flew up next to him. "Yep."

Sirius followed him with James. "Let's start then! Peter's Keeper!"

"But I'm not good at Keeper!" Peter protested.

"You're rubbish at Quidditch altogether, live with it." Remus quirped. "Hey!" He added, dodging a handful of mud. Flying down, he grabbed Peter and tossed him into a large pool of dirt, sand, and mud.

Peter laughed and threw some mudballs at James, who got a faceful. Sirius burst out laughing, then got a hair-ful of mud from James. The two boys flew down to the mud pool and started throwing mudballs.

Remus was the last to fall.

"MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!" He screamed as his broom made a headline for the mud.

The three other boys picked him up and threw him, then Remus pulled them in with him.

Meanwhile, a House-Elf and a little girl were high-fiving each other in the Library.

* * *

Annie woke up the next day with her feet feeling slightly crushed. Opening her eyes, she saw a bunch of presents at the foot of her bed. She jumped on them, opening the one from Sirius and James. Inside it was the metal box with the large blue gem. From Remus, she got journal that spoke to her. From Peter, some sweets from Honeydukes. From April, a mirror that offered you different hairstyles and the spells to make it real. From June, a little pad of paper and a small quill. Annie scratched her head. Then writing appeard on it, saying that it was a special quill and paper that made whatever you wrote on it, disapeer, and could reapear when given a magic word. From May, a large denim jacket with a huge hood. From her second-year friends, she got a photo albulm of their year together with little comments from her friends on some of the pictures.

Annie put the jacket around her and slid out of bed. Looking out her window, she could easily tell, this was just the beginning of a long and slightly tedious friendship with the Marauders and Lily.

* * *

The rest of summer flew by in a flash. Pretty soon James found himself being dragged by Annie and Sirius out of his car and into King's Cross. Annie was hiding under her large hood, and Sirius was rushing so he wouldn't been seen by his parents. Annie's face blanched when she saw Sirius' family- she muttered a small "See you on the train" and left to find her friends.

James looked at Sirius. "Can you believe it's been a year since you thought her name was Evan?"

"And her hair turned bright red." Sirius grinned.

"And Pete wet his pants."

"I did not!" Peter walked up from behind them, with Remus next to him.

"Shall we find a compartment?" Remus asked.

"Alright."

So they climbed on the train and found a compartment near the back. Inside there was a curled up sleeping figure, who was presumably Annie.

"Rem!" May ran down the train hall and wrapped her arms around Remus' neck and kissed him.

"Get a room!" April said from behind them.

Remus picked May up and raised one eyebrow. "Excellent suggestion."

James watched them go. He walked into the compartment and sat near Annie's feet. "So how what your summers?"

June shrugged as Alice and Lily walked in, laughing. April sighed. "OWLS this year. God, I hate OWLS. I hate exams too."

"Well that sounds like an excellent summer." Sirius said, sitting next to Annie, who leaned on him and went back to sleep. "How was yours, Lily?"

Lily shrugged and sat opposite James. "Same old. Except I met my sister's boyfriend. His name is Vernon Dursley. And he looks has a mustace that a walrus would be jelous of."

"And the blubber layer, too." Alice chimed in.

"Of course." Peter sat next to Alice.

June was on the floor, daydreaming. "When's the Prefect meeting?"

"An hour or so."

"When will you be back?" April asked.

"I don't know. Maybe a bit before the train arrives." Lily shrugged.

April's and Alice's lips trembled dramatically. "NOOO!" They cried, hugging Lily's legs.

"Don't you guys ever shut up?" The grayjacket Girl grumbled. Annie sat up and yawned.

"Hello, sleeping beauty!" Alice said in a sing songy-voice, which made Annie cover her ears.

"Shod off. James kept me up all night." Annie fell back asleep, but this time, her head was in Sirius' lap.

"Well. I'm going to find Frank!" Alice jumped up and left.

June and Peter sat there awkwardly. "So..." June said.

"Why is there so much sexual tension in here?" April asked dumbly.

Sirius gaped, and stood up. Annie fell to the floor, but still asleep. "Say what?"

"It's so tense. I just wanted to break the ice." April shrugged, as Lily snorted with laughter.

James started laughing at Lily's snort, which made June and Peter start laughing.

When May and Remus walked in ten minutes later, they were in hysterics. Annie got up and said to the pair, "Loonies. All of them!" Then she walked out.

Remus pulled May onto his lap when he sat down. "We're just chucked right back in the loony bin."

* * *

The fest was a happy occasion. The new students were sorted, the second-years were placing bets on how long it would be before Samantha and Alex got together, ofcousre, when the two were with their first-year siblings. Annie was smiling a bit at Sirius, who was winking at almost every girl.

"Calm down, you sexy machine!" One girl trilled a laugh and went to the Ravenclaw table, as April and Lily mimicked puking.

James was talking to Remus. "I don't think that taking a late patrol would be a good idea, especially with your 'Little Furry Problem'. Besides, we have projects to complete..."

Lily looked up. "Really? You're doing schoolwork already?"

James looked at Sirius for help. "Well..."

"You see, Lily-Dear, Jamie and Remy are fed up with my constant late-night debates about the fine females of Hogwarts. So they've decided to make a chart of all the girls in third, fourth and fifth year that are into me. Then I can be organized." Sirius winked.

Alice fainted shock. "You know what it means?"

Frank shook his head. "When he can spell it, that's what I'LL spend MY money on."

"I can too spell it!" Sirius pouted.

Annie looked up, intruiged. "Oh really?"

"O... r... g... i... n... a... i... Uhm. ZED." Sirius smiled with flourish, as Annie and Frank high-fived eachother, and the others took out a galleon and handed them to the two.

"I say, fifty-fifty." Annie said.

"No way! I've got a family to support!" Frank protested.

Alice looked up. "Say what, Frank Longbottom?"

"Er... Nothing dear!"

"Good."

* * *

Later, in the Common Room...

"No. Way."

"Yes! Adam just walked up to me and asked me out!" Juliet said.

Jordan looked at Charlie, Samantha and Juliet. "What did you say?"

"Well she said yes! Adam's the CUTEST Hufflepuff boy in the SCHOOL!" Charlie squealed.

"Well excuuuse me!" Jordan said shortly.

Tristan lay on his back and looked at Charlie upside-down. "So who's the cutest Gryffindor boy?"

Owen sat up, as did Jordan, Evan and Alex. And a few third-years.

Annie walked into the Common Room at that moment, and was pulled into a giant conferance. Then Juliet stood up. "We believe... the cutest boy in ALL of Gryffindor... is..."

Tristan grinned at Alex, who rolled his eyes, and Jordan and Owen looked at the girls worriedly. Evan didn't really care.

"ARCHIE THE CAT!" Annie said, and ran upstairs to grab the aforementioned cat, who spent the rest of the evening being pampered.

"We got beaten..." Owen started a while later.

"By a cat?" Tristan asked.

"Without a hat!" Jordan shouted.

"What's up with that?" Alex asked.

"He's sort of fat." Tristan remarked.

"He pees on a mat." Owen grumbled.

"And he's a piece of shat." Evan said, wanting to be in on the fun.

"A Chershire Cat!" Alex exclaimed.

"He's lying and fat!" Tristan remarked.

"I bet he'll eat a bat." Jordan muttered.

"It'll just make him more fat." Tristan assured.

"What's up with you and that?" Owen asked.

"He's a fat piece of shat!" Tristan roared, which caused the Common Room to stare.

"We should quieten this chat." Evan whispered.

"Let's dump him in a vat!" Jordan offered.

"What's he playing at?" Alex asked.

"GUYS! SHUT UP OR I'LL STICK A FAT CAT BAT IN A VAT WITH A HAT UP WHERE YOU SHAT!" James yelled.

"And that's the end of that." Owen whispered.

* * *

Next Chapter: Matches, Huts, and a Blonde.

OMG. IT'S FINALLY DONE. So school started, and I was like. "OH SHAT" a few days ago, and I decided I REALLY had to update. For you guys. So I did. And this chapter was hard, I didn't know what to write. RThat's why it's so short. But oh well. The rhyming part took thge better part of an hour (cue me screaming at my brother for what rhymes with cat besides vat fat at that hat and shat).  
:D I missed you all!

Golden Topaz Eyes: Awweh. :D I'm glad (?) you cried. And Annie is everybody's favorite, it seems. It's nice, I suppose. A crowd favorite.

ShimmyBabe: It WAS just a kiss on the cheek, and yes, the last line is very sad. But it gets better. In a bit. Hold on! :D

Missy396: Well, neither did anybody else. I suppose it's the doggie instincts catching up with him.

Well, Later guys. 26, signing off.

-26.

PS: I know you're probably ticked at me for not updating in like two months, but Read & Review, loves!


	12. Matches, Huts, and Blondes

Besides an excessive amount of homework for the fifth-years, nothing really happened until a week before Halloween. Why? That was the first game of the Quidditch season! Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, in an EPIC match. Of course, it hadn't happened yet, but from what Sirius was saying, it was going to be TOTALLY epic. The day of the match, crowds ran out in shining colours. This time it was evenly split, not like the Slytherin-Gryffindor games.

Annie, Juliet and Lily got the very top row of the seats for the rest of the girls, who were doing makeup (Samantha had a head-cold and decided not to come). Then Charlie, June, May and Alice walked up carrying a large lion poster. Annie was wearing a HUGE red and gold sweater under her gray jacket (which she barely took off these days, because the hood hid her scar), and Lily had painted a lion's face on her's. "Ready?" She asked the general audience.

"Er... for what?" Juliet asked.

"This is the first game ever that I'll be watching when I'm friends with James Potter." Lily muttered.

Alice's eyes danced mischiveously. "And at the after party, when happiness is high, you'll see them dancing in the moonlight, while they enjoy a nice romantic sn-"

"Don't push your luck." Lily glared, as Charlie laughed.

"The teams are coming!" Annie said excitedly. "There's Gryffindor!" she pointed to the seven red and gold-clad people walking across the field. "I see James, Sirius, Olivia, Jessica, Josh and Thomas. Good."

"And there's the Hufflepuff's." Alice said. "Theres... Douglas, how he got Captain I'll never know, Stanwood, Ashford, Dowell, McFadden, and two new players. Amos Diggory replacing Burby and Steve Drus replacing Shortbottom."

"Will the match start already? They're already there, waiting." May asked worriedly.

"GOOD MORNING QUIDDITCH FANS!" Remus' voice echoed through the stadium. "WELCOME TO THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SEASON, GRYFFINDOR VERSUS HUFFLEPUFF!

"ON THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM WE HAVE THE OLD LINEUP. CAPTAIN OLIVIA WOOD, WITH HER FELLOW BEATER, BLACK!" Remus paused. "I THINK THAT'S THE FIRST TIME I HAVEN'T BEEN TOLD OFF DURING THE BEGINNING OF THE-"

"LUPIN! STICK TO THE LINEUP!" McGonagall shouted.

"OKAY, GOT IT. CHASERS THATCH, BROWN AND HAKES! KEEPER ZELAN! AND THE AMAZING, POTTER!" At the mention of James, the crowd went wild. "AND NOW WE HAVE THE HUFFLEPUFF TEAM, THE HUFFLEPUFF TEAM, THE HUFFLEPUFF TEAM! THEY REPRESENT, THE HUFFLEHOUSE!" Remus sang, totally off-topic. "UH. SO THE HUFFLEPUFF TEAM! KEEPER AND CAPTAIN, ANDREW DOUGLASS! CHASERS STANWOOD, ASHFORD AND DIGGORY! BEATERS DOWELL AND MCFADDEN! AND SEEKER, DRUS! THE SNITCH IS RELEASED... AND THE GAME BEGINS!"

Lily and May started cheering like crazy. Frank had Alice on his shoulders, who was screaming the names of the Gryffindors. Charlie, Juliet and Annie were just laughing and giggling at the second-year boys, who had dressed up as a giant lion.

"HUFFLEPUFF IN POSSESION... DIGGORY PASSES TO STANWOOD, TO ASHFORD, BACK TO DIGGORY, WHO SPEDS TOWARDS THE GOALS- AND THE QUAFFLE IS DROPPED, THANKS TO A BLUDGER HIT BY WOOD! GRYFFINDOR IN POSSESION, THATCH SWERVES, AVOIDS A BLUDGER FIRED BY MCFADDEN. PASSES TO HAKES, WHO PASSES IT TO BROWN, WHO PASSES IT BACK TO HIS GIRLFRIEND."

"LUPIN! KEEP PERSONAL LIVES-"

"OFF THE COMMENTARY, I KNOW. SO HAKES DIVES, IS ALMOST HIT BY A BLUDGER. PASSES TO THATCH- OH! INTERCEPTED BY DIGGORY, WHO SPEEDS BACK TOWARDS GRYFFINDORS GOAL POSTS... HIT BY A BLUDGER FIRED BY BLACK! QUAFFLE FALLS, CAUGHT BY ASHFORD, TAKES A SHOT AT THE POSTS- BLOCKED BY ZELAN!"

Lily screamed, "GO JAMES- I MEAN, GO GRYFFINDOR!"

May looked at her. "He isn't doing anything yet."

Lily stuck her toungue out at her.

"WHATS THIS? IT SEEMS DRUS HAS SEEN THE SNITCH! POTTER IS BEHIND, GAINING FAST!" The pitch all went quiet and watched the Seekers. "BLUDGERS ARE SHOT BY THE HUFFLEPUFF BEATERS- POTTER DODGES THEM! HE AND DRUS ARE NECK AND NECK... AND BOTH DIVE TO AVOID A BLUDGER HIT BY BLACK! THE SNITCH IS LOST!"

Gryffindors cheered, and the Hufflepuffs did too. Neither of their opponents had gotten the snitch.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE GRYFFINDOR IS IN POSSESION. HAKES TO BROWN, TO THATCH, TO HAKES, DIVES, PASSES TO THATCH... OH! IT SEEMS THE SEEKERS HAVE SEEN THE SNITCH! AND THATCH RACES TO THE POSTS! HE SHOOTS! DOUGLASS MISSES IT BY A LONGSHOT! GRYFFINDOR LEAD 10 TO NOTHING!"

Annie grabbed the tail of the lion costume that the second-year boys were in, and they all watched in awe. Even Remus stopped commenting. Both Seekers were flying strait up into the air, following the Snitch.

Then they were covered by clouds. Everybody looked around, and waited.

Then they saw a blur. "SOMEBODY STOP DRUS!" Remus shouted, and everybody gasped. Drus' broom had bucked him off, and he was falling. James was nowhere to be seen. "WHERE IS POTTER?" Remus asked.

Another blur flew in fast, this one in control of his broom. 'THERE HE IS!" Remus shouted. "BUT HE DOESN'T HAVE THE SNITCH- HE'S GAINING ON DRUS- HE'S GOT HIM!"

James flew to the ground and put Steve in the arms on Madame Pomfrey. Then he flew back up. "IT SEEMS HE'S GOING TO SEARCH FOR THE SNITCH, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN."

A while passed, and Annie was falling asleep on Lily's shoulder. Frank and Alice got bored and left to snog. Nobody else left, not even the Hufflepuff's. Which proved to be a problem when the sky started getting dark, and players were getting tired. The score was 10 - 160, Hufflepuff, who were determined to make sure they won even if James caught the Snitch.

Remus fell asleep in his chair, his snores echoing across the pitch.

"And Gryffindor have the Quaffle..." Proffessor McGonagall said quietly. "They're passing it, and the shoot- and score. 20 to 160. And what's this?"

Everybody jerked awake, even Remus, who fell out of his chair. He took the megaphone from McGonagall. "POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! THE FINAL SCORE IS ONE SEVENTY TO ONE SIXTY. GRYFFINDOR WIN!" Then he added, "I can't believe we didn't notice he was chasing it."

The stands emptied at once. There was some serious partying to do.

* * *

The second-years were around the fire in a circle. There was Annie, Tristan, Charlie, Evan, Samantha, Alex, Juliet, Jordan, and Owen, in that order.

Despite James' threat about the boys' rhyming a month earlier, they were rhyming again. Sirius was dancing with Brianne, James' ex. James and Peter were talking with Elia and Jessi Sherman, fourth-years. Remus and May, and Frank and Alice, well... do you need to ask?

April and Lily were drinking Butterbeer and laughing. "I can't believe that lasted so long!"

April grinned. "That's what she said."

"Yes, yes it is what she said." Remarked Josh, who was walking by, then ran into Brianne, who 'accidently' grabbed Sirius'... reason to wear a crotchguard while playing Quidditch. Sirius winked at her, and she blushed.

Elia saw it and asked James, "Don't you mind?"

"Mind what?" he asked.

"Sirius and your ex." she answered.

"Nah. She's just not my type."

Elia batted her eyelashes. "And who is your type?"

Jessi overheard her twin, and looked at Peter, then at James. She turned to James and batted her eyelashes too.

Peter sighed and walked up to the second-years and sat inbetween Owen and Annie. "What're you doing?"

Annie grinned. "Rhyming. Care to join our game? I start. I say a word, and we all have to rhyme it. No repeating or making up words. I can change the word when it gets to me, if I want to."

Peter nodded. "Alright."

Annie paused. "Staple."

"Maple!" Tristan grinned.

Charlie blinked a few times. "Uh. Plateful?"

"Fateful." Said Evan quickly.

"Faithfull." Samantha grinned.

"Oh, crap." Alex sighed. "Second strike. I can't think of anything."

"What's the word?" Asked Juliet.

"Cat."

"Fat." Juliet said.

"Hat." Jordan grinned.

"That." said Owen.

"Bat." Peter smiled. "This is easy."

"At."

"Vat." Tristan sighed.

James heard this and looked at the group. "Guys, I swear to god, I am going to stick Archie the fact cat in a hat with a bat in a vat-"

"Up where we shat, we know." Tristan said, a tad bored. "I'm going to see if they spiked the butterbeer. Coming, Alex?"

Alex nodded, and the two left.

Jordan, Evan and Owen looked at eachother awkwardly and started to talk about Quidditch, because Juliet, Charlie and Samantha had started going on about Adam Aterick and his 'angelness'. Annie tried to hold in her laughter, as Peter went to join Elia, Jessi and James again. Jessi started gushing on how he was so nice to play with the "little second years and the first-year that sat to his left."

A noise that sounded like a strangled cat behind them meant that A: Annie had heard and B: Annie didn't like being called a first-year.

James grinned. "Isn't Pete just wonderful?" He asked Elia, flinging his arm around Peter's shoulder. She giggled and nodded, as Jessi batted her eyelids heavily at both boys.

Lily and April watched with disgust. "Gross. They're just leading them on to get in the sack." April scoffed. "I saw them BOTH with Sirius. At the SAME TIME!"

"May I ask WHY you're watching Sirius and those two bimbo blondes?" Lily winked at April, who looked mortified.

"Oh god no! Lily, we're friends, but not with THOSE benefits!" April shook the dirty image out of her mind.

"Then what kind of benefits do you have?"

"Uh, we can argue alot, but playfully... um. We DON'T mess around in broom closets!"

"You still didn't answer my question."

April bit her lip. "Uh, I'm just looking out for him. Those blondes probably have STI's or something."

Lily laughed. "Probably got it from him."

"Are you saying he has something? Don't say that!"

"Whoa. Breathe, girl." Lily held her hands out infront of her.

"I'm calm, I'm calm."

"You nearly had a hernia."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"My intestines are NOT descending near my crotch, thank you very much."

"WHAT is descending into your crotch?" Annie asked from a few people away.

"BOW CHICKA BOW WOW." Sirius said, Brianne scowling at his attention being somewhere else.

Annie made a face. "Shut up, Sirius."

"Yes dear."

* * *

The morning of Halloween, Lily, Alice, April and May were talking and giggling about something or another.

"So, basically, Josh asked me out. He said that he noticed me when he was dating Lily, but he didn't want to say anything, because he doesn't want to cause fights and he isn't that much of a dick." April explained.

Lily grinned. "I know. When I dumped him, he was SO relieved."

"Well he isn't like some guys that we know." Alice winked. "And thanks to Annie and the boys, there won't be anymore terrors."

"If there's a little Douglas when my little Chiquititas are here, I will shoot him." April rolled her eyes.

"Your little Chiquititas?" asked Lily, intruiged.

"It's what she calls her future kids. Me, her, June and Remus watched Mamma Mia at our house during the summer." May explained, eating some chocolate.

"Sweet. What're going to name your kids?" asked Alice.

"Mia. Lia. Kia. Dia. And Lopez." April replied like a gunshot.

May bit her lip. "Viper, Maz, uh, Jinx."

"I like the names Georgie, Frankie, Blossom, Sunshine, and Francesca." Alice smiled dreamily.

"Uh-uh. I think little Sunshine, Blossom, Francesca, Viper, Maz, Mia, Lia, and Kia are all going to be beat up at school." Lily rolled her eyes.

"What's your names, then?" said April.

"Harry. And Beth." Lily grinned.

"Like, Harold and Bethanie?" Alice winked, and poked Lily with her foot.

Lily's face froze with horror. "No. Sweet mother of God, no. I liked those names BEFORE I met James, thank you very much!"

"And how do you know his parents' names?" May asked.

"Uh. I've spoken with him..." Lily turned a bit red.

"Hey guys!" Annie skipped down the stairs.

"Oh, uh, hey Annie. So what did you say with him?" April asked.

"What're you guys doing?" Annie asked.

"We're TALKING." Alice said with a bit of venom.

"Oh... uh. Okay." Annie ran out of the Common Room.

"So what did you say to James? And when?" May asked.

"At Diagon Alley, uh... me and James, we talked... alot..." Lily blushed.

"Oh my god." April jumped up.

"Are you blushing?!?" Alice turned pale with shock.

"She is! She is!" May exclaimed.

"I can't believe it... she's blushing for him!" April squealed.

* * *

The 'him' April reffered to, was in the Library, trying to drill his brains out with a dull spoon.

"I don't think she'll have any books on it!" Sirius whined. "I don't like it! It's too stuffy and quiet!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Thats why we're here, moron. So we can CONCENTRATE."

Peter nodded. "Quietness is goodness."

James looked up from his imaginary spoon-drilling at Peter. "Did you, a Marauder, just say 'Quietness is goodness?' I swear, man."

Peter looked abashed. "I meant in only EXTREME cases, Jamie. Like when you stalk Lily!"

"I thought you said you stopped." Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Well... yeah..." said James, turning slightly red. "It's just when she's talking privately with her friends, and she shushes them alot, then looks in our direction."

"It's not because she likes you, Jamie. It's because they're talking about how beautiful I am and they are trying to hide it." Sirius replied very seriously.

"Would they really do that?" Remus asked with a small smile.

Sirius looked aghast. "Of course!"

Peter coughed. "All things aside, we still need to finish researching so we can complete our two projects."

"Don't call it that, Petie." Sirius shuddered. "It makes me think I'm doing schoolwork."

"Well becoming an Animangus for Remus is a project!" Peter hissed.

"Not so loud!" Remus said, looking around.

"Yeah. Snivellus might be nearby." James twirled his quill, bored. "I want to go visit Hagrid."

"We have to deal with this, first." Peter tapped the books, and sighed. "Why don't we just check them out and read them later?"

Remus looked at the other three. "Fine..."

James patted Remus' shoulder empathetically. "It's okay Remie, we have a few weeks until we have to deal with your 'furry little problem.'"

Sirius, carrying a stack of books, let out a bark of laughter. Peter rolled his eyes and went to the counter where Madame Pince was, and proceded to tell her the books they were signing out.

Remus shook his head. "Guys, we can visit Hagrid after lunch, alright?" he said, as the noon-bell rang.

Sirius' eyes lit up, and dropped the books, squishing a first-year. "Sorry, little guy." He picked them up, and then heard James sniggering behind him.

"I am not a guy. And I'm not that little." Annie frowned, rubbing her head. She held up a book, examining the title. "Why're you guys reading about werewolves?"

Peter grabbed the book from her hand, and snapped, "It's for O.W.L's."

"Oh... uh. Okay?" Annie said, handing him a piece of paper that fell from one of the books. "And what is an Animangus?"

Remus swooped down on her and grabbed the paper. "It's for O.W.L's too."

James looked at Annie sharply. "Don't read other people's things."

"But I just saw the title-"

"It's rude to read private papers." Sirius shook his head.

"I didnt, the title was in bold-"

"No excuses." James, Sirius, Remus and Peter walked away, leaving a tearful Annie behind.

* * *

James watched a cloud of owls fly in. "Great thing about Saturdays. Owls come at lunch, too."

"And we get to sleep in." Sirius said.

April, Alice, Lily and May sat down, grinning. Remus and May started, er, conversing, as Lily and James took turns staring at eachother.

"I thought you were up at dawn, doing push-ups?" April teased.

"Yes, but I sleep in on days that end with Y." Sirius said gravely.

Alice laughed, and moved over so June could join them from the Hufflepuff table. "Think for a moment, sweetie." said Alice, as June and April were looking for suitable dates for random occasions, rating boys from one to ten.

"Uh, thats definately an eight." June said.

"No, he's a nine."

"Eight. See the teeth? Totally crooked. Not good for snogging, they'd get in the way." June shook her head at her older sister.

"I think a gap in the teeth is sexy."

"Uhm, Ew! You could fit Peter in there!" June said, as an offended-looking Peter started choking on his food. "No offence."

Sirius glared at Alice, who laughed. Lily leaned over to April and said, "Sirius has a small gap in his front teeth."

April gave an odd yelp that was assumed to be a laugh- half the table turned to stare at her. "What?" she asked. "Uh... May! That's not Remus' lap you're rubbing with your foot!"

Remus turned red and started spluttering, May burst out laughing. "Sheesh. Jinx would be ashamed."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Who's Jinx?"

Lily's eyes danced with mischief, Alice and April beamed. James was rubbing off on Lily, they could tell. "Oh, just one of May's kids." Lily said, with a wave of her hand.

Remus spluttered more, his eyes bulging, May turned red, as Peter and James roared with laughter. Sirius was still deep in thought, as an owl landed on his head. "Ow!" He tried shaking it off, but it hung on tight.

"Awww, what a cute image." Peter took a quick picture the minute he heard June aww. Sirius glared, half trying to grab the camera, half shooing the owl that hooted quick humorously. It was black, with a white splot around one eye.

"Isn't that Artemis?" April asked, as Remus tried to agree, but all that came out was a small croak.

"Oh yeah!" James held out an arm. "Annie let Mom use her, she didn't want to bring her to Hogwarts- hey! It's from my dad!" He said, opening the letter as Artemis went back to Sirius' head.

Sirius looked over. "What'd he say?"

"That me and Annie are coming home for Christmas... bloody hell, where is she anyways?" James looked around.

"What about me?" Sirius asked.

"Oh yeah, he says you can come if your parents will allow it..." James stood up and walked over to the second-years. All, especially Tristan, Charlie and Owen, gave him dirty looks. "You seen Annie?"

"Isn't she with you?" Charlie hissed.

"Uh, no, she's not around much anymore." James shrugged.

Owen rolled his eyes. Tristan gave James a death look, saying, "I'm not surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked, his temper rising.

"'Go away, Annie.'" Juliet mimicked rudely. "'It's for OWL's, Annie.' 'Mind your own buisness, Annie.' You shouldnt be surprised."

"Well we can't possibly pay attention to her constantly-" James was cut off by Owen hitting him hard in the jaw, then storming off. The other second years followed.

James barely noticed Remus, Peter, and Sirius walk up. Sirius looked at James. "What happened?"

"I can honestly say I don't know." James shook his head.

And it's true, they didn't. But as theywalked to Hagrid's hut, James could of sworn he heard hoof-beats and the laughter of a small girl.

* * *

Awwwweh! Another chapter done! *bows over and over* I would of liked it to be up on Halloween, but last week I got really sick, and my mom made me stay in bed. She thought I had the swine. I might get it, but hopefully I'll have a laptop by then.

I'm slightly sad there's no reviews to answer today, but I'll never be the sort of person who goes, 'I want 30 reviews before I post the next chapter.' That's just so rude!

Besides, I'm more of an 'I'll post it when it's done' sort of person. Much, much more.

On a happier note, I have written the Epilogue to the family. It takes place September first, 19 years after Voldemort is defeated. Yes, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, George, Gwen, Sirius Jr, Remus Jr, and Arthur Jr will all the be there. (If you want to know who the last four are, and their ages, just send me a message. I'll tell you. But just a hint: George and Gwen are married. I totally ignored the life of Angelina in the Epilogue.)

On a sadder note, my dad has to get radiation treatments, because he used to have prostate cancer. He got his prostate removed, but unfortunatly, and he didn't tell me the details, but I believe it's come a bit back.

Also on a sadder note, my younger autistic brother with epilepsy is having seizures at night, and VERY long ones during the day. He had to go home after he had a 6 minute one yesterday, and also, I'm barely getting any sleep.

But hey, I will survive. (Unless Highschool kills me first)

Read, Review, Rave, Rad, and Read again.  
With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket.

HA. Just pulling your leg. But I love Lemony. Anyhoo,

I love you all who read my insane rambles.  
26, signing out.


	13. Womenly Items, Brotherhood, and Shacks

This chapter involves over-entending jokes and some mildy disturbing womanly items.  
Reader discretion is advised.  
If you care. :D

* * *

Mid-November came in a wet, drizzly mess. It was November 14th when the fifth-years were all gathered by the fire, playing that wonderful game called 'Never Have I Ever.' And they, since Lily and Remus were out doing Prefect duties, were using Firewhisky. And Sirius was getting piss drunk.

"Ugh...." He started. "Never have I ever... kissed a boy" He burped. "And... liked it."

April, Alice, and May took a shot. "That was lame, Sirius." Alice said.

"Your face is lame!" He exclaimed.

"Good god..." Frank muttered. "Never have I ever wanted to kill Sirius as much as I do RIGHT NOW."

Nobody took a shot, all looking at Sirius, expecting him to go insane or something.

"Okay then. Never have I ever..." May's eyes grew wide. "Forgotten to do our Transfiguration homework!" She hit her head. "Crap!"

Alice sighed. "She's right... we've got Transfiguration."

Frank groaned, so did April. Everybody that wasn't totally sloshed reached into their bags and took out their parchment.

When Lily and Remus walked in a while later, they saw a sight that scared them out of their sense. Frank and Alice weren't snogging. April was asking May a question on homework. Sirius was sleeping and it was only two in the afternoon, and he wasn't sleeping WITH anybody. James and Peter were sitting in a corner, READING.

Lily rubbed her eyes. "Holy... sweet... mother... of.... god...."

"That frees up my afternoon. I was going to spend it tomorrow convincing them to do the work." Remus sighed.

Lily blinked. "Well..." Suddenly, the Common Room door slammed. Annie walked in. "Hey!" Lily said, happily.

Annie looked up, her eyes red and puffy. She mumbled a hello and ran upstairs.

Everybody who was conscious looked up. "I think it's time for a talk." May announced.

"No shit." Owen walked down from the boy's staircase. "You guys finally got it, didn't you?"

"We got that this was being ridiculous." James pointed out.

Tristan followed Owen. "Yes, it is. But that doesn't make it any easier for us, right?"

"Yeah." Owen sat on Sirius' feet. "You see guys."

"Around mid-October, we noticed something odd with Annie." Tristan explained. "She was oddly cheerful. Always doing some sort of fake laugh."

"So one night, after she excused herself giggling, we followed her. Or, rather, we tried to follow her, and then got Charlie to do it." Owen said.

"She was crying her eyes out in the Forest. It looked like she was alone, but..." Tristan bit his lip.

"We swore things were with her. Anyways, it made us realize how much she was doing for us. Her parents just died." Owen finished.

"In July." James pointed out."We have O.W.L.s, anyways."

"Yeah, but it still hurts. Being a muggleborn Witch, and her brother a muggleborn wizard, is what killed her family." Tristan pushed.

"It still hurts for her."

"Imagine being in her position."

"Being reminded every day that what she is killed her parents."

Owen and Tristan looked at eachother, sighed, and walked out of the Common Room.

Sirius woke up with a snort. "That..." he burped. "Sounded really gay."

May and Remus looked at eachother, then looked down. James and Sirius were staring at their hands. Lily and April were having a silent conversation. Frank was staring at the ceiling. Alice was staring out the window.

This went on for a while. Nobody spoke, except for Sirius, who was rambling about random things, until people began to pile into the Common Room. Around seven, Sirius got up, and stumbled up the stairs, and a loud retching noise was heard.

"Shouldn't we-" Peter started, but Remus held up a hand.

"Look." Remus said. Annie was standing at the base of the staircase, having a large battle of her concious. She turned and ran up the boy's staircase.

For a few minutes, they were afraid to go up. Annie had a temper that was equal, if not worse, then Lily's, and a vicious streak like Sirius whenever he was confronted by a Slytherin. May, being the smart one, conjured up a handful of straws. "Pick one, all of you."

It was poor Frank that got the shortest straw. As the brave warrior went upstairs, his faithful companion Alice held her breath- she knew his fate might be sealed if something went wrong. They all watched him disapear into the doomed void.

"Alas poor Frank, we knew him well." Peter said, shaking his head.

"T'was the bravest of us all- Peter was nearly wetting himself in fear." James continued.

Lily stared at them. "Are you all drunk?"

April shrugged. "Just a bit..."

Lily sighed. "You guys are setting a horrible example to the younger ones."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Were they ever good examples?"

"Not really."

More time passed, and everybody was either slightly annoyed or just tired.

"Seriously, what the hell is taking so long?" April asked, examining her nails.

"We would of heard them screaming." May said, thoughtfully.

"Unless she smothered them." Peter looked into space.

Lily sighed. "This is ridiculous. I'm going to bed." She walked up the staircase, giving them an ironic salute.

"Are Prefect meetings that boring?" Alice asked Remus.

Remus nodded. "It's deathly boring by LILY'S standards. You know what that means."

Alice and April looked at eachother slightly horrified. "Oh lord. That must be hell."

Remus nodded. "But we may be having a Valentine's Ball this year." He yawned.

April and Alice erupted into squeals of glee, James and Peter called dibs on girls, and May already was planning an outfit to knock Remus' socks off.

"Is it definite, mind?" James asked.

"Probably- the Heads are going to ask Dumbledore he gives the go ahead, it's all good." Remus yawned again. "I'm going to bed. I want a nice burial." He marched upstairs, opened his door, and it occured to him that Annie had not two, but three modes of anger. One was anger, the second was being vicious and terrifying, the third was taking pity and becoming a total mother hen.

Frank waved from his bed and went back to his Transfiguration essay. "Sirius is in the bathroom, with Annie." he mumbled.

Remus winced. "Is she drowning him?"

Frank laughed. "Just go look..."

"I will, then." Remus opened the door and nearly burst out laughing. Sirius was on their counter, trying to remember when he had gotten that Hangover Potion as Annie went through their medicine cabinets. "No, this is Morning-After Potion... Contraceptive Potion... Condo- Sirius, do you guys have ANYTHING not related to painting the white walls red?" she asked, throwing bottle after bottle into the tub.

Sirius belched. "Nope. Now, was it January, or December..."

"It was April, Sirius." Remus said from the doorway.

"No, no, April didn't use the Morning-After Potion..." Sirius mumbled. "I couldv'e sworn it was Courtney who used it last..."

"I mean the month."

"Oh. Yeah, Evan, that's it! I last used it in April!" Sirius declared.

Annie's head emerged, dusty and a bit dirty. "Ugh... that means its at the bottom..."

Sirius retched, into a well-positioned bucket. "Urrrgggg..."

Remus backed out of the room and sat on his bed. "That was odd."

"No kidding. When I came in, she was trying to get Sirius to drink some water, saying the headache would go away if he did." Frank rolled up his essay, and put it in his sack. "I nearly wet my pants when she turned to me. She just asked if I could get a bucket."

Remus let out a bark of laughter, hearing a loud, "DON'T DRINK THAT!" from the bathroom. Then, there was a, "Not that either. No. Are you aware how many love potions you have in here? Don't touch-" a slapping noise. "I said no. Sirius, go lie down."

Sirius emerged, and fell onto his bed. Within seconds he was asleep. Remus looked back at Frank. "Think I could talk to her?"

Frank shrugged. "She's still in a slightly venomous mood. I asked her if she had any spare quills and she nearly bit my head off."

"Hm. Well..." Remus tapped his chin as James and Peter walked in.

"You're alive!" James and Peter cried. "Scratch selling Sirius' clothes, Petey." James whispered.

"What were you guys talking about?" Peter asked, sitting on Frank's bed.

"How Annie, though helping Sirius, is still crabby." Remus explained.

"Maybe it's her time of the month!" James announced.

"Like... her monthly gift?" Frank asked, wary.

James nodded. "Exactly. Annie must be starting her-"

"Excuse me?" Annie walked from the bathroom, laughing.

James and Peter fell back, pale as a sheet. "Uh. Um. Eh..."

Annie grinned. "I never thought men would be talking about such things. Want me to find a tampon, and you can examine it?" Frank and Remus roared with laughter.

"Not really..." Peter mumbled.

Annie laughed. "Later, boys." She walked out of the dorm.

* * *

The next few weeks were filled with ridicule. On December 1st, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus were in their door studying being an Animangus when Sagi flew in with a box of tampons.

"BLOODY HELL!" Sirius shouted trying to avoid the downpour.

Peter ran out of the dorm screaming. "IT'S RAINING WOMANLY ITEMS."

Lily looked at him and burst out laughing. April and Alice elbowed eachother grinning, May was trying hard not to cry with laughter.

Annie looked at them. "You did this?"

"Oh hell yeah." Alice grinned.

April grinned. "Theres a few pads in there too. Without that paper-"

"THERE'S A PAD IN MY HAIR!" James screamed.

Lily laughed. "And the pills-"

Remus' voice echoed, "I JUST GOT HIT IN THE EYE! BY A PILL!"

"You keep on predicting what falls." Owen remarked.

May nodded. "We packed it specially."

Alice got up. "Excuse me, time for a swap." she went to her dorm, and April grinned evily.

"You didn't." Lily said.

Annie burst out laughing. "You're evil."

Owen looked around. "What?"

"Owen, you'd better go to your dorm if you want to not have nightmares." May snickered. Owen turned pale and ran upstairs, where he and the other second-year boys talked about how far a girl will go for a prank and what is so evil.

"Just wait." April sighed.

"REGINALD! EEEEP!" James shouted, as Peter ran back out with a pad in his hair.

"Wait for it..." She said again.

Alice bounded downstairs. "All good."

"WHY IS THIS COVERED IN BLOOD?" Remus screamed.

Annie burst out laughing- as did all the girls in the Common Room. The males ran up to help with the attack of womanly items.

An hour later, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James walked downstairs. Remus' eye was red. Peter's hair was messed up. James rubbed his scalp. Sirius was muttering about blood like a maniac. They looked at April and Alice. "You..." they all whispered, before marching back upstairs.

"Why do they need pills?" Remus asked.

"Cramps, I expect." Sirius said.

James ooh-d and looked over his book. "Painful thing, cramps."

Peter laughed. "Probably not that type of cramps, James."

James turned a shade of purple.

"Guys, he's trying it!" Remus hissed.

"OWWWW!" Sirius jumped up and howled. James now had antlers. "YOU PRONGED ME IN THE ASS!"

James laughed. "Sorry."

Peter looked at the book. "Uh..." after a moment, Sirius jumped up and screamed like a little girl. "WORM!" he stomped on it, and Peter howled.

"Let's see. We've got some prongs, a wormtail, and a moron." Remus said, grinning.

Sirius looked at the book, not wanting to be left out. He waited for something to hurt his friends. Angrily, he hit James. James laughed. "You've got padded feet!"

"We've got a moony-man, a wormtail, padfoot and some prongs..." Peter said, then they all looked at eachother. Their animal parts disapeared.

"Moony." Remus said. "Wormtail." Peter whispered. "Padfoot." Sirius grinned. "And PRONGS." James stood up proudly. "FROM THIS DAY FORTH, WE SHALL FORVER BE KNOW AS THE MAURAUDERS- MESSERS MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT AND PRONGS."

"Indeed we shall." Sirius nodded. Peter took a picture of all of them.

Remus laughed. "We're insane."

"We may be insane, Moony. But we are brothers." James said.

Sirius nodded. "And our children shall be the next generation of Marauders."

"Forever shall our names carry on down these halls." Peter sighed.

Remus grinned. "Until the day Hogwarts itself is destroyed."

Sirius, Peter, James and Remus smirked. They sealed their brotherhood with a round of Firewhisky.

* * *

The full moon came on the 8th. Remus left, smuggled into the delightful Whomping Willow.

Annie spun around in a chair. Alice and April were playing Exploding Snap, and Lily and May were playing Wizard's Chess.

Annie looked up. "What was that?"

Lily shrugged. "I didn't hear anything."

"Neither did I." May said.

Alice rubbed her singed face. "Nor I."

The portrait slammed shut.

"Nice going, twinkle-toes!" Sirius hissed to James.

"This Cloak is cramped!" James whispered back.

"Guys, shut up!" Peter said from inbetween the two. "Let's not wake up the entire castle!"

This continued for about fifteen minutes until they got to the tree. "Guys..." Peter said.

"Pete, just go!" Sirius hissed. Peter disapeared- but he was really a rat scurrying to the tree.

The tree froze. James and Sirius ran in and transformed- a stag and a dog.

_Oh god, this is cramped, _thought James. The two were side-by-side. Fortunatly, James pronged Sirius again, and Sirius yelped and moved fowards.

The two walked in the cramped passageway, nervous. Then, they heard a growl.

_There's Moony. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god! _Sirius thought. The watched as the werewolf stared at them, sniffing the air. _We should have made a plan. But then Moony would have found out. And he would have sold my diary. He told me so. Like, why doesn't he use a method that isn't so socially dangerous? I get so nervous even when he just WATCHES me write in it. _

While Sirius was off in his own world, panting, and scratching fleas, Remus had turned and gone back to the room that he had come from. A small rat, Peter, scurried past. _Bloody hell. _James thought. He nudged Sirius again, and the dog turned, barked, and growled at the stag. The stag poked him again and the dog followed the werewolf, mentally grumbling about arrogant stags.

* * *

A few hours later, James, Sirius, and Peter were sneaking back up to the Portrait Hole. The managed to wake her up, ("I don't want to even KNOW what you all were doing") and sneak upstairs, accidentaly waking up Frank. "I don't want to even know what you all were doing." he mumbled, before going back to sleep.

"Paaaaaiiin." Peter groaned, and the three went to the bathroom. Turning on a light, they all gasped. Sirius had a huge bruise on his face. James, on closer inspection, had a large gash on his chest. Peter's fingers were bleeding. "Bloody hell..." Peter mumbled. James took his shirt off and began to wash out his cut. Sirius was bandaging Peter's fingers.

"We didn't realise about Moony being you know.... wolfish. And harming." Sirius remarked, accidently tightening Peter's bandages.

Peter yanked his hand away. "Too tiiight!" he squealed.

James rolled his eyes. "Padfoot, relax. We're fine. We're alive."

"Barely." Sirius said loudly.

Peter snorted. "You have a bruise. JAMES HAS A GASH."

"Thank you, Wormy, for putting me way in my place. My heart is torn! I'm murdered emotionally! My Moony! How can you hurt me so!" Sirius said, pretending to faint.

"SHUT UP!" Frank yelled.

"Shutting!"

* * *

On the morning of the 11th, Remus came back into the 5th year dorm, tired, and wanting to nap.

James sat up. "Ello, Moony."

Sirius moaned a hello, sitting up briefly.

Peter waved.

"You guys... you didn't..." Remus turned pale, then red. "You... you WENT TO THE SHACK?!?"

Frank sat up. "Shack? Like, a love shack? Cripes, I'm out." he got dressed and booked it out of the dorm.

James got up. "So what if we did? We are FINE."

"I could have bitten one of you!" Remus exclaimed.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "But you didn't. We were safe."

Peter nodded. "Moony, we're fine."

"You could have DIED." Remus exclaimed.

James laughed. "But we didn't. The brotherhood of four lives on."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Not for long."

"Moony. Listen to me." Sirius, for once, was sincere. "We're your brotherhood. We shall ALWAYS be there."

Remus looked at Sirius like he was insane. "We made that brotherhood ten days ago!"

"WRONG." Peter said. "It's existed since our first year. Since we met."

Remus looked at them all and threw his hands in the air. "Long live the friggin' brotherhood."

* * *

HUZZAH! Another chapter here and gone.

I felt special writing it. I may be short, but I can tell you I have such an experiance as The Maurauders when I babysat a few days ago. The girls found this 'Bodily Changes' book for girls that their mom bought for them, and I was nearly pelted to death with disturbing images.

I was put to shame. XD

And now, some reviews!

Evershort: Both sides... Nice way to avoid conflict. XD Thanks for your concern about my dad- he's tired alot lately, tho. Btw- I loved your rant. It was awesome.

Shimmybabe: I have conitnued. And I like my stories too- is that arrogant? :)

Sam-EvansBlue: I didn't realise that. Hm. Thanks. I sometimes hate the real world too. Specially when I asked for a laptop for my birthday and for christmas for THREE YEARS. I still don't have one. Sigh...

Comet: I've updated! Not as soon, but I have updated! By the way- you made me really hungry. Mmm.. chocolate chips...

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

26, signing off.


	14. Trains, Flirting, and Owen

Before they knew it, the fifth-year girls woke up one morning, they all looked at each other, at the calendar, and slowly, they all realized something very, very important. The train was leaving in two hours.

"THE TRAIN!" April shrieked. "WE'RE GOING TO MISS THE GOD FORSAKEN TRAIN!"

Alice got up slowly. "Shut up April... some of us aren't going on the train..."

"I SAID, WE'RE GOING TO MISS THE GOD-"

"Forsaken train, we know!" Lily groaned, grabbing her bag and brushing her hair. "Gah! I hate Sundays!"

"It's Saturday..." May said slowly, walking into the bathroom.

"Same diff!" Lily shouted.

Alice jumped up. "Frank's going on the train!"

Lily, who was putting on bright orange socks, looked up. "Your point...?"

"I NEED THE BATHROOM." She yelled, and started hitting the bathroom door.

May came out quickly, looking as if she didn't have less then a minute in the bathroom. "Cripes, cripes, cripes again!"

Alice tackled Lily in a mad rush to the bathroom. April, who was watching the whole thing with interest, ran in while the two were wrestling on the ground. "Sniped!" she exclaimed.

Lily got up and ran to the door. "The second-years!"

Alice got up and tackled her again. "No you don't!"

"Get **off**, Alice!" Lily grunted.

Alice laughed. "Never! If I can't have it, neither can you!"

"I swear to god, I'll tell Frank that you _hated_ him in first year because he beat you in Herbology!"

"I'll tell James that you fancy him!"

Lily gasped. "You would never."

"I would! Besides, isn't denial the first stage of acceptance?" said Alice, grinning like a cheshire cat.

"That's _evil._" May remarked, from her bed.

Alice looked at May. "If it's what I gotta do to get to a friggin bathroom_,_ I_ will _do it."

"But you won't!" Lily said, trying to push Alice off her.

"Yes I will!"

"You won't make it to the bathroom!"

"Yes, I will!"

"No, you won't! Not if I hold you down!"

"I'll make it, Lily!"

"No you won't!"

Alice glared at Lily. "May, I'll get to the second-years before her... right?"

"No, you won't... but, I will!" May said as she ran from the dorm, Lily and Alice screaming "Traitor!" after her, and ran up the stairs to the top dorm. She burst in, to see the second-year girls with their ears to the floor.

Samantha looked up, grinning. "You'll see all the others doing it too."

"Yeah. Whatever. Bathroom!" she said, and burst into their bathroom.

Annie sat on her bed, her hair in a long braid, her scar bold against her skin. "They're insane."

"Agreed." Juliet said.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Haven't they heard of an alarm clock?"

"April broke it a while ago." May said from the door. "It was too annoying. Woke her up."

Charlie looked up slowly. "Wait... isn't that the point of an alarm clock?"

Samantha clapped her hands dryly. "Bra_vo, _Charlie. We were unaware that an alarm clock makes a loud alarm to wake us up."

"Shut up." Charlie grinned and stuck her tounge out at Samantha, who threw a pillow at her.

Juliet got up slowly. "Well, I'd hate to leave this wonderful brainiac club, but I promised Adam-"

"You're still with Aterick?" Annie asked, running a finger down her scar, kind of out of it.

Juliet laughed. "Yeah. He IS the cutest of all the Hogwarts boys!"

"Nuh-uh. Sirius is." Charlie said.

Samantha snorted. "Are you BLIND? It's Amos Diggory!"

Annie burst out laughing. "Diggory's got the intelligence of a _troll."_

"Well Owen isn't a smarty-pants either." Juliet pointed out.

"Yes, but I don't fancy him like some twittering fangirl!" Annie snapped.

Charlie laughed. "I do NOT follow Sirius like a twittering fangirl!"

"I wasn't talking to you!" Annie said.

"Yes you do!" Samantha told Charlie irritably.

The four girls were arguing so fiercely they barely noticed May creep out of the room.

When she got back to her room, she saw Lily pouting on her bed, and April was packing a few last things. Lily looked up. "Can I go up?" she asked.

May shrugged. "It's weird up there. I thought we argued..." she sat on her bed, touching the necklace that Remus gave her last year.

Lily laughed and left, and Alice came out of the bathroom a second after. She whistled and put Archie in his carrier case.

Lily burst back in pale. "Son of a... son of a..." she panted. "They're INSANE!"

In the top dormitory, Annie beamed with pride. "Told you so."

Charlie grinned. "They'll think twice before trying to use our bathroom again."

"We sound really evil right now." Juliet remarked.

Samantha laughed. "Is that a problem?"

"I never said evil BAD. I just said evil." Juliet replied.

Annie grinned. "Amen to that!"

* * *

At the station, there was hugging, crying, and (not surprisingly) snogging. Annie and Charlie were hugging Juliet and Samantha, Owen was giving his friends a bro-hug, Frank and Alice were... well. You know what they were doing. Remus and May were laughing and talking. And James, Lily, April and Sirius were having a VERY awkward conversation.

"So... Uh... What are you doing for Christmas, Lily?" Sirius asked, knowing James wasn't going to.

"Well... I'm just staying at home, really." Lily replied, and sighed.

Sirius nodded slowly, muttering, "Cool..."

James looked at April. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm going to Florida." April said slowly.

"That's- er- awesome." James replied.

"Er..." Lily said slowly. "Where're you going, Sirius?"

Sirius grinned, and threw an arm around James' neck. "I'm going to Prongsies house."

Lily laughed awkwardly, and nodded. "Nice..."

The four stood around, shuffling their feet. It was all so AWKWARD to try and flirt with the person you like when one of your best friends, and one of THEIR best friends, are also there. April tried to send Lily telepathic messages, while James sent Sirius evil looks.

"So, uh, April, want to go drag Moony and May away from-" Sirius started, finally getting the hint.

"Guys! Come on! Let's get to the train!" June, Peter, and Remus exclaimed.

James looked at Remus and Peter evily. "Don't cock-block me."

"Don't what?" June whirled around.

"Nothing!" the three boys said in perfect unison.

June laughed. "Good." she led the group onto the train. She found Annie, Charlie and Owen talking heatedly in a compartment. Not asking if she could sit there, she sat right next to Owen and put her arm around him. He stiffened like a board and turned as red as his hair.

Peter walked in and laughed. Remus and May were sat down on the floor and whispered. James and Sirius sat on Annie's both sides, talking loudly on how FUN Christmas will be. She groaned and covered her ears. Lily, April and Frank were talking about good gift ideas for Alice.

"You're a horrible procrastinator." Owen remarked.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me."

"Stop procrastinating- starting tomorrow." June giggled. Everybody burst out laughing, except for Sirius. Who didn't get it.

"I don't-" He started.

"Get it. Big surprise." April rolled her eyes.

Sirius looked at April. "What crawled up your arse and died?"

"I ain't telling."

"Let's play truth or dare. I'm starting. April, truth or dare?" Sirius paused, then said in a high pitched voice, "Truth!" He smiled. "Alright then. What crawled up your arse and died?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "Smooth move."

April snorted. "I'm still not telling."

"You have to!"

"I never agreed to play the dumb game, Sirius!"

Sirius was apalled. "DUMB GAME? It's fun!"

"Guys, calm down." Annie muttered. _The pot's calling the kettle black, _Owen thought, smirking at Annie's comment.

"Well excuse me! I hate always being forced to jump around and act childish!" April snapped.

Sirius stood up. "Well I'm sorry Miss Vanity Fair!"

"WHAT did you call ME?" April yelled, getting up.

James got up and put his hands up. "Guys, breathe-"

"Shut up, James! This is between me and Miss Bitch over here!" Sirius snapped.

April gaped. "You're going to regret that, man-whore."

May and Lily looked at eachother, almost dying from shock. Remus and Peter looked around wildly, wondering if the sky was falling. Nobody, and I repeat, **_nobody_**, called Sirius Orion Black a man-whore.

Sirius glared and stormed out of the apartment. April followed, going a different direction.

Frank got up, looking to see if the sky was turning red and dropping rocks on people. "That went well." he said sarcastically.

* * *

"Wake up!" a voice hissed in James' ear. He sat up, to see Lily staring down at him. He was staring right into her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes. _The green eyes that were the windows to her beautiful soul. Was there anything about this girl that isn't beautiful?_ He asked himself. _No. There isn't. Even her rages are beautiful, because that's when you see a girl who isn't afraid to show her feelings. Wait- oh crap. She asked me something. What should I do? I didn't even HEAR her! _James blinked a few times. "Er... what?"

Lily laughed. "I asked if you were planning to stay on the train, and live your break at Hogwarts or wherever this train goes when it's not in service, while Sirius and Annie are enjoying Christmas at your house."

_Bloody hell- she laughed! She's cracking a joke! Shes- oh god. I am **whipped.** _James smiled. "Er. Not really."

"Then get your ass up!" Lily smirked, offering him a hand. James took it gratefully. He noticed everybody else was gone. "Where did everybody go? Have I slept that much?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "You started to snore, and Annie, being a little insomniac, got up and left with Charlie. Owen followed like a lost puppy. Then Remus and May left. June went to see some Hufflepuffs, I think Frank and Peter went to the loo and got detained."

"Or they caught Sirius and a bird snogging, and decided to annoy him about it."

"Probably."

James laughed and walked out of the compartment. "Wait- where you watching me sleep?"

"Okay, Alice may say I'm insane, but I'm not that crazy." Lily rolled her eyes. "I decided to go with June, making sure she didn't... how did she put it? Paint the white walls red?"

"Going downtown and getting funky." James quipped.

"Shut up."

"Shutting!"

Lily giggled. _Oh good god... are we flirting? I think we are. Holy crap- we're flirting. I am flirting with James Potter. I am flirting with... wait. I don't fancy him that much, do I? _She asked herself. Then, her impulsive side said, **_Course you don't, you bloody fool. You've hated him with a passion for five years for a reason. _**Lily rolled her eyes at her impulsive side, which she was going to call IT. Mainly because whenever she freaked out, she said, 'IT'S DRIVING ME UP THE WALL." _Right. _Lily thought stubbornly. _Hated him with a passion. Five years. _"Five stupid years..." she mumbled.

James looked at her confused. "What's five years?"

**_Oh crap. Think fast!_** Lily grinded her teeth. _Thank you, IT, for being no help. **Any time. By the way, you're bloody insane for arguing with yourself. **Noted. _

"So...?" James asked, snapping her out of her concentration.

Lily bit the inside of her lip. "How long April and Sirius hated eachother- their friendship was too good to last." _**Smooth move. **Oh shut up, you didn't offer anything! **You're arguing with yourself again... **Okay. Shut up. And why aren't we off the damn train yet?_

"Oh, hey guys. I've noticed I'm not the only straggler." Owen came out of the compartment that they were currently infront of.

James whirled around, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. "Oh. Er... Hi." he mumbled out. _AAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! I'M STARTING TO HATE THIS KID MORE THEN SIRIUS DOES- Wait. That's a bit much. Maybe I'm annoyed because he's interrupting my wooing of Lily? _Then, the Sirius-In-His-Head said, _**You don't have a chance with Lily anyways. **Oh, I so do! She were laughing! **She laughed when you fainted because of the baby mandrakes. **_

"Why're you guys still on the train?" Owen asked, totally charismatic.

"Well, James was still sleeping. Me, being the good samaritan, went to go wake him up." Lily smiled. _Aww- He's so cute. I can't be mad at him, not with a face like that. **And if he interrupted you and James snogging? **I swear to god, IT. Shut up._

James smirked. "Pretty much." _Why does Sirius hate this kid anyways? Sure he's tall for 12, and muscular, and tan, but honestly- Annie probably doesn't think of him that way. **Dude. Dude. Are you really thinking about Annie's love life? **She's 12. Deal with it._

Owen smiled, and stepped off the train. "Glad to hear the train didn't leave without you guys getting off. See you, guys!" he waved, and disapeared into a crowd. Presumably to look for his parents.

Lily and James smiled at eachother. "Cute kid." Lily said.

James nodded. "Sirius almost hates him to death, poor guy."

"Why?"

"Well, apparantly this guy is 'bad news for Annie.'" he quoted, smirking.

Lily rolled her eyes. "He probably couldn't hurt a fly."

"And Annie honestly doesn't see him in a romantic way-"

"I don't see _WHO_ in a_ WHAT_ way?" Annie demanded from behind them.

James whirled around, again looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "Er..."

"I keep on walking in on these conversations..." Annie said, shaking her head. "You're a bloody moron."

Lily laughed. "Oh hey- I see my parents! Bye!" she hugged Annie, and then, _very_ awkwardly, hugged James. She then ran off.

_She- she. She hugged me!_ James thought, his stomach turning into butterflies, his heart making all his other organs rainbows. _She hugged me! She willingly touched me! I can't believe this! I mean, I totally got it when she was all awkward around Owen, but that conversation lasted like thirty seconds long, but even when ANNIE interrupted us, she hugged me! I could do a cartwheel-_

"May I asked why you were talking about my love life?" Annie asked, eyebrow raised.

James, again, became socially awkward. "Er..."

"He was what?" Sirius demanded from behind James.

Jamed whirled around again. "Siriusly! You all have GOT to stop sneaking up on me!"

"Oh, don't be such a wuss. Now, why were you talking about my love life?" Annie demanded again.

"Oh. That..." James rubbed the back of his neck, as Sirius nearly had flames and steam flying from his nostrils.

Annie put her hands on her hips. "I'm _waiting._"

James bit the inside of his lip. "Well, there's Owen-"

"What does **_OWEN_** have to do with her love life!" Sirius demanded.

"It doesn't!" Annie snapped.

James looked at the feuding two- evidently, Sirius was in a fighting mood. Annie was in an anger mood. _Her mood swings are hell... **Agreed. **_He thought, the Sirius-In-His-Head nodding. Those two together could only be assumed as bad. Very. Very. Friggin. Bad.

Remus, May, April and Peter watched this from a distance.

"Wonder what they're fighting about." Peter said absentmindedly.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I caught the words 'Owen' and 'Love life'. I'm guessing it's about Annie's love life."

"But she's _twelve._ How much of a love life can she have?" April asked.

"Look at you when you were twelve." May pointed out.

Peter smirked. "Caught in a broom closet with Fred Willie, weren't you?"

"He was cute then!" April pointed out. "Before the Gobstones accident."

Remus coughed awkwardly. "Didn't he stalk you all third year?"

April looked sheepish. "Uh..."

"Despite you constantly saying he was as ugly as a toad because of those Gobstones?" Peter asked. May laughed crazily in the backround.

"And didn't he write you a poem on Valentine's Day?" Remus reminded her, smirking.

Alice rolled her eyes. "It was three lines that didn't rhyme. Or make any sense."

"How did it go?" Peter asked himself. "_Someday me and April will be, Married in a cottage, Snogging like obsessed people._" He grinned.

"You _remember_ that?" April asked, shocked.

"Sirius remembered it. He claimed he was never letting you live it down." Remus explained.

May coughed. "Back to the original subject of what Sirius, James and Annie are talking about!"

April laughed. "Yes. Back to that subject. Annie isn't like me, so-"

"Thank god for that!" Peter interrupted, laughing.

"Anyways." April said, glaring. "I don't see how she could have a love life."

May shrugged. "I guess it's because guys think she's a broken soul, so easy to get a snog on in a cupboard."

Remus nodded awkwardly. "Yeah..."

Peter looked at Remus. "Didn't you say that on one of your patrols you caught three boys talking about her bo-"

"Oh hey, lookat the time!" Remus said quickly, in a high-pitched voice. "My parents are waiting." Remus kissed May goodbye. "See you, May-flower. Bye, April." Then he bro-hugged Peter. "Later, Wormtail." with a final wave, he left.

"If he didn't want to talk about it, he could of just said so." Peter pouted.

Meanwhile, back at the battle field...

"Well, Annie, you don't have a love life, right? So there's nothing to be talking about." James said quickly.

Annie burst out laughing. "And you say you know me- oh." She saw James' parents, and ran to hug them. "Hi Beth! Hiya Harry!"

James followed, and Sirius followed James, cursing independant girls who didn't tell their calm, _respectable_ brothers anything.

"Thats bull, and you know it, Padfoot." James said quietly.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"Denial is the first stage of acceptance!"

* * *

Thank god I finished this chapter. It went through so many stages- and it was ALOT shorter to begin with. In the original draft, May ran out of the domritory right after Alice says "No you don't!" for the first time, and the conversation between Remus, Peter, May and April didn't even exist. Let me tell you, though. It was a hell lot of fun to write.

I included alot of the thoughts that they were thinking because its important to know that James and Lily are both having a fight with themselves about so many things. Also, it shows that James is becoming a bit of a dork. For those that remember what happened in their fifth year, in the pensive, and honestly, who doesn't, this is sorta the beginning of James turning into that arrogant know it all that Lily promptly hates.

I'm also thinking of doing a diary chapter, because it's alot of fun to record their thoughts- it'll be the diaries of Remus, Sirius, Peter, James, Lily, April, and Annie if I do. Think it's a good idea? (I do. Hehehehe... Lily's diary will be alot of fun. I can tell)

Now, some reviews!

ViviForevah-The Bleeding Rose: Well, you can hate Annie as much as you like, Arbor. And I love Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore. Dumbledore makes my day. :)

Evershort: Yeah, I had a bit too much fun writing that chapter. Mainly because I was venting on what happened. -_- Remus does know that Sirius, James, and Peter were going to the shack, but he didn't expect it to be so soon. And he expected on them to tell him. I'm glad it was the highlight of the day- whenever I say something's the highlight of my day, I'm always like, "That was the HIGHLIGHT of my day! Yellow Highlighter all over it!" My friends think I'm crazy... XP

Sam-EvansBlue: You enjoyed it TOO much? Impossible, my good friend. There's only liking it, and not liking it enough. Because I'm a person who can never enjoy things too much. (Da Nyle aint just a river in Africa, you know! XD Bad pun, horrible pun...) My parents think a laptop in a grade 10 gift. Like seriously, WHAT? I'm smarter then my older brother, and he has TWO. TWO, I TELL YOU!

Okay. I lost it a little there. XD

Anyways. I'd better go. This part is probably longer then the chapter itself. XD

Remember to Read&Review, my loves! :)

This is 26, signing off.

PS: Good news, bad news time, guys. Good news is, I did another draft of the Epilogue of the family. It goes on RIGHT after JK's epilogue, so you won't miss anything. Also, I'm probably going to need two stories, or this baby's going to be a hundred, or more, chapters long. Bear with me loves, it spans over ten years of their life! (I made it so James and Lily die at 24, or it's not going to make sense. At all.) BAD NEWS: I can't post the Christmas chapter until Febuary! Exams are in three weeks, so I have to study study study! Just check back in late January, I have six days of doing nothing when the exams end. Plenty of time!


	15. Christmas at the Potter's

The following chapter has been rated AG, for containing snippets of Arlo Guthrie's song called Alice's Restaurant. Which I adore. Also in this chapter, Sirius is a pudgy boy who thinks alot about food and Annie loves gingerbread, Lily looses her temper and April becoms scarred for life, as May and Remus recover from fevers and James and June are looking around thinking, 'What?'

* * *

James woke up to loud voices coming from the kitchen. It was December 22nd, and honestly, it couldn't get any worse. Until he came downstairs and saw the funniest thing he could ever see.

There, in the middle of a few house elves glaring for making a mess was Sirius and Annie, trying to make a gingerbread house.

"_SIRIUS_! Put the icing on the wall and the bottom piece! No- No, that's me... honestly, pay attention. I don't care if I sound like a teacher, it's three days till Christmas and Santa still has time to alter his list... There you go. SIRIUS! Oh my god, that's a house-elf, Sirius." Annie said, exasperated.

"I doubt Muggles make these all the time for fun. More like a punishment." Sirius pouted, as the house-elf that had icing on his ear grabbed the icing out of his hand. "Not my fault gingerbread has the same colour." Sirius muttered.

Annie held out her hand to the house-elf and he gave her the icing, muttering, "Colour-blind is the young master." Annie smiled at the house-elf before icing the base and the wall herself. Then, James noticed Sirius was covered in flour. "What happened?" he asked.

"This idiot turned the blender on before I had poured any other ingredients in." Annie muttered.

Sirius pouted. "You didn't tell me!"

"Yes I did, you didn't listen." Annie snapped, adding another wall. "And you did ask me to show you how I would spend my holidays normally." Annie added, and pain flashed in her eyes. Her hand flew to the long scar that ran down her face. Then she snapped out of it and went back to gluing gingerbread together with icing.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at James, his eyes saying they had to talk later.

"She's not over it." Sirius said later, when him and James were in James' room, alone. Annie was making a gingerbread palace, with the help of the house-elves (Including the icinged one, who was the same one who high-fived her in the summer. His name was Octey) and she had shooed them out.

James grinned. "It's the small things that remind her. She tries to stay happy- I bet a swarm of Dementors couldn't do their worst-" he stopped, remembering what had happened.

"Let's get off this subject." Sirius said quietly, sincerely, slightly pale. Evidently he was remembering that summer night as well.

"Deal." James smiled sourly. "How about you and April, eh-"

"Hm?" Sirius asked, twidling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question."

"Fakest conversation avoid ever." James rolled his eyes. "Answer the question."

Sirius coughed loudly. "I think I smell some gingerbread..."

"SIRIUS! ANSWER THE QUESTION!" James said, laughing. "It won't leave this room."

"I doubt it..." Sirius rolled his eyes. "We just aren't made to be friends."

"How about lovers?" James asked innocently.

Sirius glared. "No."

"Soulmates? Spouses? Stress relief-"

"I'm going to show YOU some stress relief if you don't shut up soon." Sirius growled, tensing his muscles.

James burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I don't swing that way-"

"JAMES!" Sirius yelled and lunged at James, knocking him onto James' bed. They started to wrestle and after a while they stopped, eventually laughing. A flash snapped them out of it.

"There, now in twenty years, I can show your spouses this picture and we can all laugh about it." Annie said, leaning on the doorway, waving her camera in the air. James and Sirius suddenly realized what it might look like, and charged for it. Annie squealed and ran down the hallway to avoid being tackled. She ran back into the kitchen and slammed the door, leaning on it. The house-elves, realizing that James and Sirius were trying to come in, came to help to make sure that their kitchen won't be destroyed.

"I GOT IT!" Sirius shouted, jamming his fingers through the small crack in the doorway. The door slammed, and Sirius snatched his hand back, howling. "OWW!"

James watched it, mused. "If we survive this Christmas, it's a miracle." he smirked.

* * *

Lily looked at her Christmas tree, excited. It was December 23rd and it seemed that the day couldn't get any better- she was home alone with a boxload of brownies, all her presents wrapped and she was expecting replies from all her friends. _Don't forget James... can't forget him. You wrote him two days ago. _"And James, yes." she whispered, with a small smile.

"Who's James?" came a shrill voice behind her.

_So much for home alone, _Lily thought. She turned around to see Petunia standing there, almost covered in snow. "Hiya, Tuney. James is a friend from Hogwarts."

"You mean your freakish school?" Petunia asked. "You actually have friends there?"

Lily bit the inside of her lip. "Yes." She thought of what April would say if she saw Petunia. The two had a deep hatred for eachother, which was only seconded to the just-revived hatred between April and Sirius.

Petunia rolled her eyes. "I doubt it. You're such a freak."

_Okay, that's it. _"JEEZ!" Lily shouted, making Petunia jump. "CAN'T YOU THINK OF ANYTHING OTHER THEN FREAK TO CALL ME? OR ARE YOU TOO STUPID, TOO SMALL-MINDED IN YOUR BLONDE, HORSE-LIKE HEAD TO EVEN LEARN ANYTHING ELSE?"

This, Petunia wasn't used to. She was used to Lily being hurt, Lily leaving the room. She was used to using what she did to make sure that she could stop seeing her parents fawn over Lily, how wonderful it was to have a witch in the family. Her eyes started to water, then Reginald and Artemis came flying in, flocking over Petunia's head. She screeched and ran out of the room.

Lily immediately felt guilty. _She may be an utter bitch... but she is my sister. I shouldn't say things like that to her... _Artemis flew over to Lily and hooted loudly, evidently proud about scaring the soul out of Petunia. Lily took the letter from her beak, reconizing the large, loopy scrawl. She opened it.

_Lily,_

_It seems that Muggles make gingerbread houses during the holidays. I woke up yesterday to such an odd sight, the only way I can explain it is in a Healer's office with dolls. It was that weird. Sirius said it's more like a punishment, but I think it's because whenever he tried to eat the icing Annie would smack him upside the head. She's getting quite strong, according to Sirius. He said she'll make a good Beater some day, and you know how fiesty Annie is about Quidditch, so Annie retorted by saying Sirius is just getting soft from eating icing. He did eat alot, mind you, according to some of the house-elves. Seemed to be a bit pudgy during our wrestling match on my bed, though- oh god. Ignore that phrase, Lily. Point is, Sirius is getting as soft as a bowl of candy floss._

**_I am NOT getting soft, Jamie. I am still perfectly strong. Shame on you for beliving otherwise! Anyhoo, merry Christmas, Lilykins. If the parchment is a bit ripped, it's because I'm running around with the paper, avoiding my dearest Jami-_**

_Sorry about that, Lily. Thankfully, Sirius tripped over Octey, one of our house-elves, and for some odd reason Octey has a grudge against him. When the little guy was getting up, he forced Sirius down a flight of stairs. Then he proceded to hit himself with a vase. Now I hear Annie yelling at him, because Sirius knocked her over... now they're going outside to shove eachother in the snow. Sounds like Annie got some down Sirius' shirt. Our holidays are so boring, Lily. _

_Hope you're having fun in the muggle world,_

_James._

_PS- Sorry for the short letter, but I've got a gingerbread castle to eat before Annie comes back inside._

Lily smiled as she folded the letter. She walked over to Reginald and took the letters from him, watching him fly out. She opened the letter, which wasn't in May's loopy writing, but April's small scrawl.

_Lily-kins!_

_You must be having kittens from not getting a reply in a few days from May, so I decided to write to you and make up for what that horrible girl did. You see, a few days ago Remus popped out of the blue and asked May to stay with him for a few days. May being who she is, she was over there likety-split. She came back this morning- I had the misfortune to see their goodbye. I'm scarred for life, Lily-kins. I thought he was attacking her for a second, then Gray looked like he was going to beat Remus into a pulp. They seriously shouldn't leave the front door wide open being saying goodbye. _

_Anyhoo, May is current all hopped up on cold and flu medicine. Apparantly, she and 'Rem-Rem', as she calls him in private (which I heard from June, who heard from the Rather Annoying Boy known as Sirius Black, who was told by Rem-Rem himself), went outside in the snow for several hours and got locked out of Remus' house. I seriously doubt that's what happened, since Rem-Rem normally has his entire family over during the holidays, which I heard from June, who heard from the Rather Annoying Boy known as Sirius Black, who heard it from Annie (the poor girl, having to stay with the Rather Annoying Boy during the holidays), who was told by one of her friends called Juliet, who is Rem-Rem's cousin. _

_Good lord, I just said Rem-Rem in almost every sentance in that last paragraph. Kill me now, Lily-kins, before I end up like May- misjudged, unable to see the light, and utterly whipped._

_Damn, I have to go. Gray wants June and me to meet his new girl- what is it, number eight-hundred and eighty-two? He's been on the go since his 4th year at Hogwarts. We're going to Florida tomorrow, so don't bother replying, or you'll kill your owl._

_The sunshine of your life, _

_April._

Lily burst out laughing when she finished reading. It seemed that April's hatred for Sirius had grown at an alarming rate since the fight on the train, since she had written 'Rather Annoying Boy' in red whenever she had to write it. "Of course..." she mumbled. Getting up, she noticed a little message on the envelope. She knelt down to read it.

**_Ignore April, Lily. It's more like eight-hundred and eighty-eight.  
-June.  
PS: It shouldn't be a comfort, but you were number seven-hundred and sixty-two and a half. He has a list, you see.  
PPS: We should definately sign April up for counseling ASAP._**

Lily snorted with laughter, unable to hold it in. The fact that she had been number seven-hundred and sixty-two and a half was a bit unsettling, the half more so, but the thought of April in counseling was like 'Alice's Restaurant', where Arlo Guthrie drives the shrink almost insane and the jump up and down shouting 'KILL!

Lily walked up the stairs, her head in the clouds. Then she said infront of Petunia's door, "Shrink, I wanna kill. I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, KILL, KILL!"

And Petunia slammed her door shut. Lily just started to laugh her head off, and back in her room she wrote on a scrap of parchment,

_James Potter, you have ruined me._

She completely forgot this was a scrap of parchment that, if somebody else had a piece, enabled them to write back.

* * *

James sat in the library with Annie and Sirius on Christmas Eve, wrapping presents.

"Leaving it a bit late this year?" Annie asked, amused, sitting down next to James.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

James looked at Sirius, then shrugged. "We're just lazy."

"I've known you guys for a good year now, I know that." Annie muttered, sticking a bow in Sirius' shaggy black hair.

Sirius looked like he was going to retort angrily- he was opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Being smart, and probably to avoid a fight, he just laughed. "Am I going to be Prongsies present, Evan?"

Annie made a face. "Please stop calling me Evan, it's too close to Lily's last name. And where did you guys get those nicknames anyways?"

"Huh?" James asked, trying to wrap a rather large present with one arm, the other was waving the tape around trying to get it to stick.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." Annie replied, taking the present from James gently and wrapping it expertly. Next to the shabby work of Sirius and James, it stood out like a becon.

"Just popped into our heads." Sirius said a little too fast, but Annie didn't notice. "How did you get so good at wrapping?"

Annie looked up. "Been doing it since I was four, helping my mom with it." she smiled, a true genuine smile. Sirius felt lighter looking at it. It was the first time Annie had brought up her family without tons of tears. Actually, it was the first time Annie brought up her family since Hogwarts started.

James smirked. "Thank god we have you to help us-" he started, before Sirius jammed an elbow into his ribcage.

Annie's smile left her face at once. "Just wish the reason why I'm here never happened." she whispered, brushing her dark hair out of her face and resting her head in her chin, thinking. Like this, she looked a little cute- if you ignored the scar down the side of her face.

"Octey!" James said, and the house-elf Apparated infront of James, on Sirius's leg. Octey ignored the yelp of confusion coming from Sirius. He bowed. "Yes, Master James?" he asked.

"Bring us some pumpkin juice, and some desserts- like cakes, and brownies. The like." James answered, with a tone that made him sound like royalty- and a bit of a jerk. Octey nodded. "The sort the young Mistress likes?"

James nodded, and Octey bowed and Disapparated, only to Apparate (this time, on Sirius's hand) a few moments later with a large tray laden with desserts and juice. Bowing to the three of them (and giving Sirius a look of deepest loathing) he Disapparated.

"He's got it in for me, Prongsie." Sirius said, his mouthful of a piece of cake.

Annie nibbled on a brownie. "Don't be stupid, Sirius. He's just had a stressful week, caused by you mainly, and can't wait until you leave so he can have some peace and quiet. I think Harold and Bethanie are alot less commanding then the two of you."

James winced. "We get it, we get it. Don't order around the house-elves too much." he said. "At least while Annie's around." he added to Sirius, in an undertone.

"I heard that." Annie said dryly, and she hit James over the head with a roll of wrapping paper.

"Blimey Padfoot, I think you're right." James said to Sirius. "She is getting stronger."

"No, you two are just getting soft."

"No we're not!" Sirius said defensively.

"Then how about just fat?"

James looked at Annie. "How about Sirius is getting fat?"

Annie looked over Sirius. "Agreed."

"Agreed." Sirius said, unawares of what was going on.

"Shut up, Sirius."

"Don't you ever have anything nice to say to me?"

"Sirius, _may you_ _please_ shut up?" Annie snapped. "That better?"

Sirius pouted and brushed some hair from his eyes. "Yes. But I would like some pancakes in return."

"In return for what?" James asked.

"Damages caused by cruel, cutting words." Sirius said sappily, giving Annie the puppy dog look.

"Sirius, love, that's not something we'd want to trade for." Annie said, shaking her head.

It took Sirius a moment to realize what he had said, and how he had misunderstood the question the James had asked. Mainly he was wondering how many pancakes he could eat in a minute, and lately the mention of homemade food made his mouth water. You see, Sirius Orion Black is one of the few people who ask questions like, 'Are you related to your brother Mark?', so it's no wonder his mind has one track, and since that track was most likely full of the unforgettable song 'Do you like Waffles?', he really didn't pay attention to anything. This paragraph is probably an excellent example of what Sirius thinks of, since it mainly revolves around pancakes and waffles, and food.

So you must excuse him when the only retort he could think of was, "That's what she said."

And you must excuse him again when he demanded _what_ was so funny as James and Annie rolled on the floor laughing themselves sick.

* * *

When Lily woke up Christmas morning, she could hear absolutely nothing. Not the rush of cars, not the annoying sound of radio jockeys trying to make you chuckle, and not even Petunia cursing a fanfiction writer who was late updateing her latest story.

That because, ladies and gentlemen, Lily Evans wakes up at 5am on Christmas morning so she can try to sneak some of her presents open without her parents seeing. It seemed she didn't have to though, because there were four very annoyed-looking owls outside her window. She opened her window and shut it quickly when they flew in, ducking to avoid being clubbed by a large box being carried by the largest of the three.

Lily sat down on her bed curiously. There was Reginald, Artemis and Alice's owl Flower, but the fourth she didn't reconize. She took their burdens and opened the window so they could fly out again, before turning to the large box. There was a small card on the top that read,

_Lily!!_

_Happy Christmas, my dove, sorry we couldn't visit. But Florida- though flooded with Muggles- is a rather heavenly place._

**_By that, Lil, she means there are cute guys._**

_Excuuuuuuse me for having a good eye for boys!_

**_She's considering hooking up with a Muggle named Eddie._**

_He's so muscular- and a Canadian! There's nothing ever wrong with Canadians, Lil. I might visit there in the summer, actually. _

**_Forgive her for going off topic, Lily. _**

_Forgive HER, Lily, for being picky, picky picky! _

Here there was a large ink stain, with a few fingerprints, as if two girls quabbled over who was going to write next.

**Hello, Lily. It's May. June and April are currently having a catfight that most Hogwarts boys would pay to see. Happy Christmas, and if you've heard from Sirius, and James, tell them I say hello!**

**Wishing you a happy holidays from Florida,**

Gray_, April_**_, June_, May and Baby Nicholas!**

Lily snorted at the insane note. She would NOT like to have two triplet sisters. Overall, she wouldn't want two sisters. Petunia was bad enough.

She opened the box with was stuffed with all the essentials for a teenaged witch. There was Shade-4-U Foundation (which changed the shade to match your skin type perfectly), there was Self-Applying mascara and eyeliner (the box read: Perfect for busy women or depressed boy bands!), and there was Bedazzling Eyeliner (which changed colour according to your outfit). She dove deeper into the box to find a rather large _autographed _picture of Gray (which she crumpled up and tossed into the garbage) and under that there was another box. Lily took it out, and opened it. There was yet another box. When she opened that, she found a wrapped present. She opened it to find- another box. This one had Spellotape around all the angles, and it took Lily ten minutes to finally open it. Inside it was a minuscule box, which she opened to find a small piece of paper that read:

_I LOVE wasting your time. Muah!  
XOXO  
-April._

Gritting her teeth, she turned to Alice's present. She opened the card.

**LILYKINSY!**

**Happy Christmas, Lilykinsy. Oh, I'm so calling you that now. How are you? Is Petunia treating you alright? How's her whale of a boyfriend? I know I'm suffocating you with questions, but I feel like I haven't spoken to you in AGES!!**

**I went out with Frank a few days ago, and he seemed all worried about Christmas. I have no idea what he's worried about- on Boxing Day, I'm going to have dinner at HIS house! His mother scares me beyond scariness! His dad's all right, I spose, but he always asks me and Frank when he's going to get "grankids". As if I wanted kids at FIFTEEN! Or in the near future. Seriously...**

**Bloody hell, I should go, my mum's having a fit- Alyssa sent word that her new guy, Henry, is coming to dinner with her, and I have to help her prepare dishes. As if she didn't make a dozen more of everything to start with!**

**LOL (Lots of Love),  
Alice~**

**PS. I hope you find my gift useful. I knew you weren't going to buy any until it was too late. Enjoy!**

Lily laughed. Mrs Carroll was the type to have a fit when one extra person was coming to eat. As a matter of fact, so was Petunia. But Petunia has fits on just about everything, so it's not a surprise.

She opened Alice's gift and gasped. There was the most beautiful pair of dress robes she had ever seen inside the boring brown packaging. They were an emerald green, and they were a bit tight around the waist then flowed out gracefully. There was a small card that fell out when Lily picked it up, and it said, **for the v-day ball.**

"That girl knows me too well." Lily muttered, but grinning. Never before had she appreciated Alice's sense of style and chic as much as today.

She looked at the gift from Artemis. There was a long scroll attached to it, and she opened it expecting to see many signs of battle. She wasn't wrong.

**_Dearest Lilykins,_**

**_I hope you enjoy this gift from Prongsie, Anne and me to be fun and happy and totally awesome-_**

The first sign of battle was here. It was mainly a long line of ink that trailed off the page.

_Whew! Sorry Lily, Padfoot's being a bit of an idiot-_

Second sign of battle was a large ink splatter, as if the writer just got spooked the hell out of them.

**_Heya Lily. James was wrong, Sirius wasn't being a bit of an idiot- he was being a big one. Did you know James screams like a girl? It's totally true. He's such a big baby-! LILYYYYYYYY-_**

Here it looked like the writer was forefully dragged from the table.

_I was just writing this note to wish you a Happy Christmas from all of us-_

Here there was a large splatter of ink, as if the writer got scared again.

_Dearest Lily._

_This is Bethanie Potter. I was just writing to say what it seems Sirius, James and Anne just can't when they all want to say it at the same time._

_Happy Christmas, and have a good new year._

Lily put down the scroll and sat staring into space. She felt really bad for Bethanie Potter at the moment, having to live with three people who were good friends but who rarely got along. She noticed there was a picture taped to the present. She looked at it and laughed.

There was Annie, Sirius and James all glaring and pointing fingers at eachother. Annie had ink on her hands, Sirius had ink all on his face and James' front was all stained with ink. The area around them had ink everywhere, as if the quills started to attack eachother. Grinning, Lily moved onto their gift, opening it alot faster then she normally would have done.

Her gift from them was a booklet full of paper. There was a note taped to it-

_Lily, this is a Joined Book. Sirius, Annie and I have the other one. Just write in it and we'll see the exact same message- and we can write back. Cool, right?  
-James._

_PS: It seems you found a scrap. How did I ruin you?_

Lily dropped the booklet in shock, blushing, though she didn't know why. "I don't fancy James Potter!" she shouted, to argue with herself.

Her mother stuck her head in the room. "Lily, we're going to open the presents now. I'm surprised you waited this long- coming?"

Lily smiled. "Yeah, mum." She followed her mother out of her room and closed the door behind her, as the present from an unknown person slid off her bed, and went under a dresser.

* * *

Sorry this chappie was a bit late, loves! Right after exams, I got very sick. Feverish. I wrote most of this in a week, which I think is impressive seeing how much homework I've had.

Its a bit of an odd chapter, I know. Christmas at the Potter's and Christmas at the Evans's are two very different things, arent they? And WHO is the mysterious present from? Why did it slid off her bed?

Any ideas? LET ME KNOW!

And now, a review!

Elegancexx: Aweh, thanks! I'm glad you couldn't tear yourself away- I often do that with fanfictions I adore. I'm also glad you love Annie as well, since there's going to be a rather interesting reveal about her in the next chapter- I mean, there's the Valentine's Day ball! It's about her mysterious love life, as a hint.

Read, and Review, mi amores!

This is 26, signing off- and hopefully fully recovered from a fever.

UPDATE: Okay guys. So I basically had a hell load of projects to do, so updating will probably happen in the next week or so. I'm going to try and post two chapters next week, but since I'm only two-thirds of thew way on the first one it might not happen. Who knows, maybe I'll be lucky. Besides, the weekened is a wonderful thing. I also got sick a few weeks ago and I'm still busting out my pencil to catch up.


	16. Valentines Days

"Annie...?"

Annie looked over at Sirius. The holidays being over, school had gone by like molasses in January. In other words, every single day, after classes, Sirius would look over at Annie- who was sitting by the fire, doing her homework- and ask her how her day was, having nothing better to do. After about a month, it was tedious enough to make even the most patient person a little annoyed. And Annie wasn't a patient person at all.

"WHAT?" Annie snapped, scribbling out the date on her Charms homework for what seemed like the thousandth time.

Some onlookers (and there weren't many- it was a Friday night, the Friday before the Valentine's Day Ball, which was to take place the next day- the actual Valentine's Day was on Monday) sniggered. A third-year by the name of Cameron Macula said, "Calm down, lil' pyro." Annie shot him a deathly glare and he fell silent.

"What should I do for Valentine's Day?" Sirius asked, as Remus walked into the Common Room.

Annie, who began to crumple up her homework, said, "How about, DON'T BOTHER A GIRL WHO HAS PLANS!" she said rather loudly, very irritated. Sirius had been asking her the exact same question for a week. It normally went something like this...

_Flashback_

"_Annie?" Sirius asked._

_Annie looked up and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "What, Sirius?"_

"_What should I do for Valentine's Day?"_

_Annie rolled her eyes. "I don't know- snog some girls breathless, pass around a few STD's?"_

"_That's what I normally do!" Sirius pouted._

"_I'm hoping you mean the former, and not the latter." Annie raised an eyebrow._

"_Whatever that means, I want to do something different!"_

_Remus leaned around Sirius. "Yes, Annie, he means he normally snogs girls."_

"_That's slightly disgusting to know. Please never tell me anything like that ever again."_

_End of Flashback. _

"You have PLANS?" Sirius asked, interested. Remus groaned.

"Sirius, she's a near-pubescent girl who is fawned over by a ton of guys. Why WOULDN'T she have plans?" Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged, but his eyes darkened. "What do you mean, 'is fawned over by a ton of guys'? What guys? Who is your source?"

Annie stared at Sirius as Charlie skipped into the Common Room. She sat by Annie and promptly started to braid Annie's hair, a job that was normally associated with instant death. But Annie didn't care right now.

"It's something that I-" Remus started, but he was cut off.

"Christ, Sirius!" Annie exclaimed, over Remus' attempt at a calm reasoning. "I'm twelve years old; I'm perfect allowed to have a date if I want!"

Sirius turned red and spluttered. "Y-yes, of course, but-"

"I don't need you constantly watching my back FOR me! I'm perfectly fine on my own!" Annie continued to ramble.

"I know that, it's just th-that I'm worried about you-"

"How can I ever grow up if you're always babying me?" Annie demanded, and then added, "I like how you're trying to be a responsible brother-person-thing, after all that happened..." she stopped for a moment. "But I think it's time I got a little leeway, don't you?"

"Can't agree more." Remus said, as Sirius opened his mouth to argue. "You know, I have a feeling that everything is going to be a-okay," he added to Sirius, as Charlie and Annie started to chat about Valentine's Day.

"I wonder who she's going with..."

Peter and James climbed into the Common Room and sat with Sirius and Remus.

"Prongsie, do you know who Annie is going to the Valentine's Day Ball with?" Sirius asked.

"I was under the impression she wasn't going." James replied calmly, hands shaking slightly.

Remus noticed. "Prongs, what's wrong with you?"

"Just overheard something about Amos-" Peter started, but Sirius interjected.

"_Diggory?_"

"Planning to try and hook up with Lily." Peter finished, ignoring Sirius and James seething. "On Valentine's day."

"That's probably not going to work-"

"OH! MY! GOSH!" April shouted, bursting into the Common Room. "Guess who's got a date with Amos Diggory?"

Charlie jumped up squealing. "You got a date with _Amos Diggory?_"

"The one and only! Omigosh, I'm so excited!"

Annie giggled, and a group of surly third years walked in. All of them made a beeline for Cameron Macula. May walked in after them and sat on the side of Remus' chair.

"Maybe we heard wrong?" Peter said quietly, as Sirius tried to mask his obvious rage. James was turning a horrible shade of red.

"Heard what?" May asked.

Peter missed the warning look that Remus sent. "Something about Amos Diggory going to attempt to hit it off with Lily, though he is actually going with April."

"You heard wrong." May said, quickly and forcefully, though not entirely believing herself.

Remus jumped up. "Well, I'm going to take the guys to the dorm. James and Sirius are a little out of it today."

"Kay, hun." May smiled.

"I'll meet you back down here," was what Peter heard as he grabbed James' arm and dragged him upstairs. Sirius, who wasn't in so much shock, followed like a drone. Remus sprinted after them.

Sirius flopped onto his bed. James had to pushed in order to even collapse on his bed. Remus closed the door when he walked in and sat at the end of his bed. "We probably heard wrong. You heard May."

"Great, Moony, but probably doesn't cut it." James growled.

Sirius stared at his wooden canopy, where he had taped pictures of Muggle girls in bikinis. "Get me my painkillers, Remus."

Remus sighed but got up anyways. Mimicking Sirius, he walked into the washroom and came out holding two glasses and four pills. He handed James and Sirius a glass and two pills each. "Take these and shut up..." he said looking at a cut on his thumb. He walked into the bathroom.

"We heard wrong." Sirius said. James echoed him, and they both swallowed the pills with a glass of water.

Peter watched them, slightly interested, but also a little weirded out. "Thank god I'm not in love."

James raised his head, looking punch-drunk. "You're going to end up screwing watermelons." he mumbled, as Sirius said, "I don't love her!"

"Sure..." Peter rolled his eyes.

Sirius jumped up. "I'll _prove_ it. Where's Annie?" he asked.

"Why do you need Annie?" James asked.

"Cause she's a Metamorphmagus, DUH!"

"She lost control when she watched her dad and brother get murdered, DUH!" James snapped.

Sirius opened his mouth to argue but stopped. He stared into space for a moment with his mouth wide open. "I still need her."

"Why?" Peter asked.

Remus came out of the washroom, holding the bottle for Mr. Kittich's Easy Pain Removers! (Works from bruises to heartbreak. Not severed limbs.) He sat down on his bed and started to read the label.

"Cause I need my list," explained Sirius, slightly drowsy. The painkillers were starting to work.

"Blimey Sirius... look at the side effects..." Remus muttered.

"Er... and you gave it to Annie?" James asked.

"Headaches, drowsiness, muscle spasms... That's a bit pointless, a painkiller that gives you muscle spasms..."

Sirius nodded. Peter gaped. "Why?"

"Loss of depth perception, cramps... oh, that's only if you're _not_ taking them for PMS..."

"Cause she's more organized then us." Sirius said.

"Dizziness, loss of blood- what the hell..."

"I'll go get it!" Peter jumped up and ran down the stairs, into the Common Room. There he saw what shocked him the most.

Annie was sitting on a table, and a third-year who looked somewhat foreign was holding both her hands, whispering into her ear, as she giggled. Peter was at a complete loss of what to do. Luckily, he didn't have to think about what he would do for long. The moment Annie saw Peter, she turned as white as a sheet. She gently pulled her hands from the boys and slid off the table. Peter walked over and reconized the third-year as Michael Conolli, a boy who Sirius already hated with a passion. Michael noticed Peter and sped off like a bullet.

"So _that's_ who you're going with?" Peter asked, trying to keep it light.

Annie nodded, hands on her hips. "Look, he asked me out before Christmas Break, I like him. Sirius and James can shove it if they don't want me to go."

Peter tugged at his collar. "That's wonderful. Anyways, Sirius needs you. Come on." He turned and led the way up the spiral staircase. Annie sprinted ahead of him and walked into the room.

"Annie! Annie! Annie!" Sirius announced when he saw her.

"Rashes, freckles, acne..."

"What Sirius?" Annie asked.

"Spotty darkening of the skin... what the hell is 'spotty darkening of the skin'?"

"I need my list!" Sirius yelled. Annie made a face. She turned on her heel and walked out of the dorm.

Peter, uneasy, sat on his bed and scratched behind his ear. Then he messed up his hair. Then smoothened it out. Then scratched his knees. And his nose. "I found out about Annie's bo-"

"WHO IS IT?" Sirius demanded, overridding Remus' exclamaitions of 'risk of balding'.

"Michael-"

"CONOLLI?" Sirius demanded again, overidding Remus' questioning of why in the world there would be more side effects then the things the pills help. Nobody noticed Annie slip inside.

"Yes, I'm going with Michael, deal with it." She walked over to Sirius' bed and handed him a roll of parchment. "Take this."

"Wand dysfuntion?" Remus shouted in shock. "Sirius, don't take these tomorrow..." he added in an undertone so Annie wouldn't hear.

Annie looked at them. She shrugged and started to leave, but at the door, she asked herself, "I don't how pills can make your magic all weird."

"Well-" James started, but Remus jumped up. "Great talking to you Annie see you tomorrow!" he pushed her out of the room and shut the door.

Peter crossed his legs. "I don't get it either."

"We gotta have a talk." Sirius said. "Moony, get me a chalkboard."

The next day rose with many a squeal from the Gryffindor girls. Or all of them. Every. Last. One.

The hours passed like crazy. Most of the Gryffindor boys, not needing at least twelve hours to get ready, forgot their emnity with eachother and hung out in the Common Room. Sirius was glaring at Michael Conolli, who was slowly inching away from him every other minute. Owen was sitting in a corner with Evan, who kept on having to push his glasses up his nose. Both of them decided not to have dates- seeing as Evan had a huge crush on Juliet, who was still going out with the slightly chubby but nontheless adorable Adam Aterick. Owen was being his comfort buddy, deciding _not_ to go at all, though he had been asked by a few first-years (who weren't allowed to go unless they had an older date).

James was in a very foul mood. He woke up with a large dark circle around his left eye. On closer inspection, he noticed that he had lost half an eyebrow. When Remus saw he screamed somthing about the pills being cursed before stealing the bathroom. Not to mention he realised that Lily had earned a date with the school's eight-hottest guy, Kenny Sondra, and that he _had _heard wrong and that Amos Diggory wanted to hook up with _Lily's friend_ April.

At around five o'clock Remus and Sirius went up to the dorm to get ready. They returned an hour and a half later, in black dress robes. Remus was a little figety, holding a red rose and a velveted box.

In ten minutes a few giggly first years ran down the stairs. Then came a flood of girls. There were dresses of every size and color, style and type. Sirius dove- quite literally dove- into the crowd to find May for Remus, who was busy hyperventilating because the first group of girls nearly trampled him. Out of the corner of James' eye, he saw Lily walk down the stairs, and the light that played around her made it look like she was glowing.

Maybe she was, but his eye was swollen and slightly infected by this point and probably in an hour if a flying pig flew around and he had to close his right eye, he wouldn't see a thing. That didn't stop him from whirling around and staring.

Lily's dress hugged her waist and let loose, somehow filling out her curves and hiding the fact she was stumbling in the shoes April forced her to wear. Her hair was in a braid that looked like it contained actual-factual diamonds in it. Her skin looked flawless, her eyes seemed to shine out. He could tell she was wearing foundation, some sort of concealer for whatever the foundation didn't hide, some mascara that made her eyelashes look a hell lot longer, emerald green eyeshadow that made her eyes sparkle (mainly because it had sparkles in it), eyeliner, and some sort of lipgloss or lipstick. James couldn't tell- but he could tell that she looked different. He made a note to tell her that she looked nicer without alot of that makeup, but then he remember he wasn't taking Lily to the ball. Kenny Sondra was.

That lasted until a new flood came down the stairs. He tore his head away and watched Remus stutter to May about something, his eyes wandering all over the chic midnight-blue halter dress she was wearing. The Common Room slowly emptied until there was only one girl in the Common Room all bedazzled- Juliet, who was tapping her foot impatiently at the foot of the girl's staircase.

"I'm coming! Sorry, Juli!" Annie exclaimed, running down the stairs. She was in a light blue spagetti strap dress that sweeped almost to the ground and swirled and danced around her. The only makeup she had was some blue eyeshadow. The necklace that she had gotten from her brother was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a gold chain with a tiny sapphire in the middle. "Bye, James!" she said before running out of the Common Room with Juliet.

James and Peter sat alone for a minute or two, occasionaly looking over at Owen and Evan. Then, without any warning at all, Evan and James jumped up together and shouted, "I'm going down there!".

The two started to run until Peter yelled, "You need some dress robes!"

Evan started to run back. "Right!"

"What will we do without you two?" James asked, running back into the Common Room.

Owen shrugged, but he whispered to Peter in an undertone, "_I_ might have a love life."

The ball was a semi-high-class affair. By the time James and Co. arrived, people had finished eating and most of them had resigned to dancing. Realising he hadn't had anything to eat all day, James sat down at a clean, empty table and began to order food from the kitchens using his menu. Peter followed, but Owen followed Evan into the crowd.

June appeared out of no where. "Howdy, boys!" June smiled. Her dress was a strait cut dress that was slightly tight around her chestm drawing the stares of a few boys- including Peter, who never really got over their break-up.

"Hullo, June," he mumbled. "Where's your date?"

June sat down and giggled. "He ditched me. But I can dance with whoever I want now!" she hiccuped and started to giggle again.

James looked June over. "Are you drunk?" he asked.

"A little." June shrugged, and got back up. "I see some cutie Ravenclaws. Bye!"

She was gone as sudden as she had appeared. Peter was left to sulk, as James tried to look around the Hall. There were a few dark corners where the prying eyes of the student body and 98% of the staff were unable to see. James was pretty sure Sirius had hit all of those corners. From the corner of his functioning eye, he could see April and Amos Diggory giggling, hand-in-hand, leaving the Hall.

"James?" asked a voice from behind him. He turned and saw Lily, who was looking over him with a slightly pitied expression. "So you came."

James nodded. "Yep..." he tugged at his collar. "Where's your date- Kenny Sondra, right?" He tried to sound very calm, cool and collected about it. _Like I don't know,_ he thought bitterly.

"He went to get some drinks, a while ago. The floor's so crazy, he probably got lost!" Lily folded her arms across her chest and looked over her shoulder, feeling awkward.

"Well, grab a seat." James smiled. "We're all friends here."

"Thanks," she sat down and returned the smile. "What happened to your eye?"

"Don't ask."

"Too late." Lily giggled. _Am I flirting with him? _she had to ask herself.

James was asking himself the same question. Before he could bask in the lovely implications meant by that, Kenny Sondra came out of nowhere, thanks to the oh-so-hilarious Karma.

"Lily, babe!" Kenny smiled a cheesy smile at Lily. He had a bit of a Californian accent, mixed in with sleazbaginess, and his blonde hair was coifed perfectly. Next to him, James' hair started to have an inferiority complex.

"Hi Kenny." Lily smiled back, and stood up.

Kenny took a sip of his butterbeer and James noticed something on Kenny's neck. Before he could ask Kenny about it, he was already talking about how they just ran out and how a friend of his gave him the one he had. Lily absorbed every word.

"That's okay," she shrugged. "Want to go dance?"

Kenny grinned. "Sure. Later, Potty." He took Lily's arm and led her away, before Lily could realized he didn't miss-pronounce James' name, but he was trying to insult him.

"Come on James, this sucks. Let's just go." Peter mumbled, and he and James made their way out of the hall.

They were closing the doors behind them when they heard an anguished sob. They both turned to see Annie rubbing April's back, who was crying her eyes out. Annie seemed to have ditched Michael, so there was at least an upside to the disaster of a dance.

"What happened, April?" Peter asked.

April's only response was to cry harder on Annie's shoulder, making the second-year stumble a little. "One of her exes caught her... er... with Amos Diggory, and both guys got into a huge fight over her, and Amos told her to go so he could deal with it. But her ex said some... nasty... things about her." Annie's eyes grew darker. "Which is ridiculous, seeing as he was towing around some whore with him and saying that he had to get back soon. I overheard the whole thing."

"Why?"

Annie scowled. "Michael said that if I was friends with you guys, he couldn't date me. Coward couldn't take no for an answer, so he left. I was walking around."

James made a mental note to beat the crap out of Michael. "Who was the ex?"

"Some blonde guy- Look, can you pretty please take her up to the Common Room? I want to see if Charlie and Juliet want to leave." Annie asked, her big blue eyes wide and very sad.

"Sure." James nodded. Peter went over to April, arms wide open. Ignoring the fact that it was _Peter Pettigrew,_ she went into his arms and burst into tears again. "Have fun, Annie."

"Impossible. This place is a disaster. Later, guys." Annie said, and walked back into the Hall. She felt half a dozen eyes on her. She walked around, looking for Juliet or Charlie. What she did find, however, was Evan and Owen sitting in a table by the corner.

"Hi guys," she smiled. Evan didn't look up. He was face down on the table. Owen however smiled back and whispered hello.

"Evan's out," he added. "Where's your date?"

Annie explained briefly about the whole problem. "Can I hang with you guys?"

Owen smiled again. "Of course. Here," he said before clearing away the chair next to him. Annie sat down and started to watch some of the older girls walk by, and then the group of people dancing. She saw Michael with some Hufflepuff named Kelsea. She was his height, and had blonde curly hair, and dimples.

Owen saw that too. "You know, you shouldn't care about what they think." Annie knew that 'they' meant Michael.

"But she's so pretty- she's got a face like a porcelain doll and a figure like an actress from the 70's. Those girls were like two triangles facing point to point!" Annie protested, feeling horrible.

"They also removed their bottom ribs for such figures." Owen said quietly. "You're good the way you are."

Annie looked at him. Unable to speak, she half-gestured to her scar.

"It makes you who you are, Annie." Owen whispered. "Scar or no scar, you're a fighter. I like that." His eyes opened, realizing what he just said. "Er... I mean... I like that in a girl... um..."

"I get it, Owen." Annie mumbled, feeling like her cheeks were on fire. "But still..."

Owen turned a fiery red the shade of Lily's hair. "I think you're the prettiest girl in here," he blurted out, and he turned maroon before he could stop gaping in horror, eventually shutting up.

Annie blushed too. "Well..."

"Annie! We were looking for you!" Charlie yelled. She and Juliet ran over to her. "Come on, it's late. McGonagall is giving us the eye."

As they left, Juliet and Charlie both started to complain about the cursed dance. Annie, however, looked behind her to see Owen still suspended in catonic shock. "I dunno." she smiled, her hair getting a blonde streak. "It wasn't that bad for me."

The news of Annie regaining some of her Metamorphosing abilities shocked the Marauders to some extent- at least, until they heard that Owen was involved in that. It took some mental strength for James and Sirius to remain calm, and some physical strength for Remus and Peter to stop James and Sirius from going headhunting- which Peter didn't really have, so Sirius often got very close to beheading the second-year.

The day before the actual Valentine's Day was very, very mellow. And awkward. It was rumored all the couples in Hogwarts had broken up because of the very disastrous Hogwarts dance. That rumor was proven invalid thanks to the pairing of Remus and May, who have surpassed the curse of the dance and if possible, grew closer. Both disappeared several times a day, and Alice was claiming that May was glowing so much if she put some dead plants near the younger triplet they would _bloom. _

Not long after one of these disappearances, and both had returned (Remus being annoyingly chipper), James and Sirius had gotten into an argument. Like last year, James said that _he_ would get more Valentine's cards then Sirius. However, Sirius claimed that _he_ would get more cards. Tempers flared until finally, Remus said (with a very happy voice) that they should have another bet.

"Ingenious, Moony!" James exclaimed. "Very idyllic."

"I don't suppose you have a punishment, do you?" Sirius asked, and when Remus shook his head, he added, "Aye, how about you, Wormy? Have a punishment fit for this scoundrel of a landlubber?"

Peter shook his head.

"Ar, shiver me timbers!" Sirius said, snapping his fingers.

Lily looked up from a few feet away. "Sirius, why are you speaking like a pirate?"

April looked up as well. "It's a little weird."

"Well, m'lady Lily, it makes everything a bucket of fun!" Sirius exclaimed. "And ye, Zelan, you have a face of the Kraken."

"The what?"

"The Kraken."

"What the hell is a Kraken."

"Ye face."

It was Annie this time that looked up from her Charms homework, which she hadn't yet completed. "April, just drop it."

April rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"That landlubber has got the brains of the Kraken as well, maties!" Sirius muttered.

"And stop speaking like a pirate, Sirius!"

"Aye, m'lady Anne!"

"SIRIUS!"

Sirius cowered. "Sorry!"

Annie rolled her eyes and went back to her homework.

James suddenly burst out laughing.

Remus stared. "Prongsie, are you okay?"

"I just imagined Paddie declaring his eternal love for Proffesor McGonagall!"

"Why?"

"I do that in my spare time."

Peter laughed. "You declare your eternal love for Proffesor McGonagall?"

"No, I just imagine funny situations..." James stopped laughing and talking. "I know what the loser will do."

Sirius jumped up. "Holy crap, I _need_ to get more cards," he started to run from the Common Room.

"Son of a bitch!" James shouted, and he followed.

"...And that is when I first fell in love with Proffesor McGonagall- or as I call her, Minnie. Because she is my Minnie to my Mickey, the Wonder-woman to my Spider-Man." James pulled a grimace. "Everyday this astonishing woman astounds me even more, and I fall deeper and deeper into the tendrils of love. Thank you." He sat down and the entire Great Hall burst out laughing. He, however, looked at Sirius. "I hate you so much right now."

"Well, bright side." Lily giggled. "She's too shocked to yell at you." And it was true. Minerva McGonagall was staring into space, fork in hand, face white, torn between shame and anger.

"That won't last long." Remus sniggered.

"Also it's Wonder-Woman and Superman. Not Spider-Man." Annie added.

"Gee, thanks." James said, face red.

Sirius ate a sausage, staring into space. "Aren't I-"

"POTTER!" came a yell from the staff table.

"What did I tell you?" Remus asked as James jumped up, and booked it from the hall.

"Run, Potter, Run!"

Another chapter finished. And she is a biggie. The next chapter shouldn't be too long, seeing as Jo K. Rowling took care of most of it for me- the entire O.W.L. situation.

I was sick again, my dear readers. Big surprise, I know. But I think the weather plots my downfall. Yesterday it was sunny, then raining, then snowing, then hailing. W.T.F?

These Canadian springs... Geez...

Now, for some reviews!

evershort: Can't wait for more? WELL HERE IS SOME MORE! (... That sounded way less scary in my head.) Anyhoo, I hope you liked the Annie/Owen progression here. And the James/Lily progression. And the Sirius being a pirate. It made me giggle.

SecretlyAGriffindor: Awweh, thanks. I had fun with the letters, specially the ones from James-Sirius-Annie. I did that once with one of my friends, we were arguing over who would type the email next... really fun.

smilessss (I hope that's enough s's!): I am keeping up the wonderfulness. A little later then I hoped, but ah well, I was horrible in the game Keep ups.

And I just lost The Game.

And I hope you all did too. (There goes my 4 month record...)

This is 26, signing off!

PS: ALMOST FIVE-THOUSAND WORDS. HOMIGOSH.  
PPS: Almost forgot.

READ AND REVIEW, LOVES!


	17. OWLs How lovely

Soon, very soon, the Valentine's Day Disaster (as it was known to many who listened to Sirius' rambling dialogues explaining it, and how he, luckily, had used his mojo to save the relationship of his friend Remus, who completely owed him for doing so) was completely forgotten. It was time for those three little letters which caused so much horror and fear. It could be three words... depends if you can remember the anagram.

OWLs.

Ordinary.  
Wizarding.  
Levels.

The name itself was rather odd, to some, like Sirius. He claimed that it looked nothing like an owl, probably didn't taste like an owl, and had nothing to do with owls (unless you took Care of Magical Creatures, or in your Charms or Transfiguration practical your examiner wanted you to change a plate into an owl). Nor did you get extra points if you turned your exam sheet into an owl.

"But nobody's tried, why won't you let me try, I mean, it might make them laugh..." Sirius whined.

"No." Remus said, turning a page of their DADA textbook. "You asked Professor Marchbanks before our Charms written, then again during the practical. The look on her face should have been a sufficient answer for you."

"You're so mean." Sirius pouted, and he looked around the table. James was helping Peter cram in some extra terms, and Peter was very, very pale. James looked very confident, very cocky as well. Lily and May were a few people away with Alice and April, helping them study as well, and April was trying to make May confident.

During the Charms practical, May accidentally turned her examiners hair bright orange, then set the table on fire while she was trying to correct it. May had a horrible issue with nerves. She was a brilliant witch, but when she was nervous or scared, she was almost like a Squib.

"Think they'll be anything on werewolves?" Peter asked the three guys.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Wormy, we run aro-" he was cut off by Remus kicking his leg, since Annie had wandered down to see the guys. Her blonde streak, which seemed to be the only part of her in which she regained her Metamorphosing abilities, was now a light pink. They hadn't told her yet that Remus was a werewolf. For one, most werewolves were very pro-Voldemort and two, Remus wasn't sure if he could trust her.

"Hey guys. Forgot to ask- how did the exam go? How many left?" Annie asked, smiling.

"It was a piece of cake." James replied, rolling his eyes. "And we've got Defense today and Transfiguration tomorrow."

Annie did a show of mock annoyance. "Boys, you better deflate his head. It's been getting too large for my liking."

"Amen!" Lily shouted, laughing and joking.

"Ouch, Evans." James said, forgetting Lily didn't like the use of her last name now that they were friends... ish. It was very tense between them whenever they talked. Lily blamed James for Kenny ditching her a few weeks after the dance, and James was really pissed because of that.

Lily's smile disappeared at once, as the bell rang. She got up, and walked out of the Hall to wait, and she completely ignored James. May followed her, and April walked out with Alice and Frank.

Annie said goodbye to the guys and ran out to get to Potions.

The Marauders went out a bit more slowly. They stood a distance from the girls and Frank. James was seething a little, taking Annie's joke to heart, but he didn't want anybody to know that he took something like that seriously.

That's when Snape walked into James. James immediately turned and punch him in the face, sending Snape- and his notes- flying. Lily saw.

"James, leave him alone! What the hell did he do to you?" Lily asked.

"He deserved it." James said, and Sirius nodded, agreeing.

April made a noise. "You guys are such jerks," she mumbled. Lily nodded with April and they turned to leave.

"Lily, you know he's nothing but filth." James said, exasperated.

"Don't call me Lily, _Potter_." Lily snapped. She turned on her heel and walked into the Hall again, to write the exam.

"What's her problem?" James asked.

"Beats me." Sirius replied. Remus and Peter looked at each other and walked into the Hall. James and Sirius followed.

James sat down at a desk. He looked at the front of the room, where a Professor said (he couldn't tell who, there was an obscenely tall person infront of him) "You may begin."

James flipped over the paper, smiled, and began to write.

* * *

"Five more minutes!" Professor Flitwik announced, infront of James' desk. James was finishing up his last answer. He finished, and began to re-read his answer. _It'll do. _He thought, and he yawned, then ruffled up his hair. He turned to see Sirius and grinned. Sirius, who was checking out random girls in the room, noticed James and gave him a thumbs up.

Lily was on the other side of the hall, and she was almost done. Her anger made her break her quill-tip at least twice, and it powered her to finish the final question. She looked around and saw May, pale faced, read through her exam. April had given up, it would seem, and she was daydreaming. Lily couldn't see Alice. June, however, was next to Lily, and she grinned at Lily. She mouthed 'We dit it!' to her. Lily did a little fist-pump as a response, and June laughed.

"Quills down, please!" Professor Flitwick squeaked. "That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! _Accio!" _

Over a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed through the air and into Professor Flitwick's outstretched arms, knocking him backwards off his feet. Several people laughed. June and the boy next to her went to help him up.

"Thank you... thank you," he panted. "Very well, everybody, you're free to go!"

James waited for Sirius, Remus and Peter before walking out of the Great Hall. He was well aware that Lily and her friends were infront of them, but he didn't want to make it look like he cared. If she played cold, so would he.

"Did you like question ten, Moony?" Sirius asked, smirking.

Remus replied, "Loved it. _Give five signs that identify the werewolf._ Excellent question."

"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" James asked in mock concern, and he had to hold in a chuckle.

"Think I did," Remus answered, a little seriously. "One: He's sitting in my chair. Two: He's wearing my clothes. Three: His name's Remus Lupin." Everybody laughed but Peter, who was a little horrified still about the exam that just finished.

"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes and the tufted tail," he said a little anxiously. "but I couldn't think was else-"

"How thick are you, Wormtaul?" James said, impatient. "You run round with a werewolf once a month-"

"Keep your voice down." Remus said, elbowing James in the ribs.

They walked down to the lawn, down to the lake, enjoying the bright sun.

"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," Sirius said. "I'll be surprised if I don't get 'Outstanding' on it at least."

"Me too." James said, and he pulled a Golden Snitch from his pocket.

Sirius stared. "Where'd you get that?" he asked.

"Nicked it." James replied. He started to play with it, to test his reflexes. Peter watched him, and cheered when he caught it. When they reached the beech tree, they all sat down except for James, who was still playing with the Snitch. Remus was reading, and Sirius was looking at everybody else. At one point, he turned his attention back to his friends.

"Put that away, will you," he said, "before Wormtail wets himself."

"If it bothers you." James said, putting it back into his pocket.

They sat around for a bit. "I'm bored." Sirius said. "Wish it was full moon."

"You might." Remus said from behind his book. "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me. Here..." he held out his book, but Sirius snorted.

"I don't need to look at that rubbish, I already know it all."

James suddenly lit up with a foul grin. "This'll liven you up, Padfoot. Look who it is..." He gestured to Snape, who was a bit away, getting up from the grass.

"Excellent." Sirius smirked. "Snivellus."

Remus and Peter heard them, but they remained seated. Remus was still looking at his book, but he wasn't reading. Peter was staring at Snape, excited about what James would do.

"All right, Snivellus?" James asked loudly. Snape turned very quickly, and his wand was in the air, but James had already shouted, "_Expelliarmus!"_

Snapes wand flew from his hand, and Sirius laughed.

"_Impedimenta!" _he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet. Students nearby turned to watch- some were apprehensive, others were having a grand ol' time laughing, and were thoroughly entertained.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" James asked, nearing Snape. He looked over his shoulder at Lily and her friends, who were by the lake.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," Sirius said cruelly. "There'll be grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."

Some people laughed, and Snape looked at James with a look of pure hatred. "You- wait," he said. "you- wait."

"Wait for what?" Sirius asked innocently. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, blow your nose on us?"

Snape started to swear loudly at James and Sirius.

"Wash out your mouth." James sneered. "_Scourgify!_" Pink bubbles came from Snape's mouth. Froth was coming from his lips, and the pink sudsy bubbles were choking him. Lily saw this and ran to James.

"Leave him ALONE!" Lily shouted. James, when he noticed her, immediately ruffled his hair.

"All right, Evans?" he asked, and April and May came over to the crowd as well.

"Leave him alone," Lily said coldly. "What's he done to you?"

"Well," James said, not wanting to make Lily even more mad at him then she already was. "It's more then the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean..."

Some people laughed, but Lily didn't. "You think you're so funny." she snarled. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag. Leave him _alone_."

"I will if you go out with me, Evans." James replied, doing the Bieber-flip with his hair. "Go on... go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

Snape was starting to move, the jinx was wearing off... he headed for his wand.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid." Lily snapped.

Sirius smirked. "Bad luck, Prongs." he turned to see Snape, and said, "OI!"

He was too slow, though- there was a small gash on James' cheek, and there was red on his robes. He turned angrily to Snape and in a flash, Snape was upside down, his robes over his head showing his underwear, and skinny legs.

Many people in the crowd cheered. Lily almost smiled, then she said, "Let him down!"

"Certainly!" James said, moving his wand upwards, and Snape fell down to the got up, but Sirius said, _"Petrificus Totalus!_" Of course, Snape fell back down as rigid as a board.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily yelled, taking out her wand.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you." James said, but in reality he didn't want Lily to hex _him_.

"Take the curse off him them!"

James sighed and turned to Snape, muttering the counter-curse. "There you go," he said as Snape got to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-"

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" Snape snapped.

Lily blinked. "Fine. I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, _Snivellus_."

"Apologise to Evans!" James roared at Snape, pointing his wand at him.

"I don't want _you_ to make him apologise." Lily shouted at James. "You're as bad as he is."

"What? I'd NEVER call you a - you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you because you can- I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK." Lily spat, and she walked away. She could hear James yelling after her, but she didn't care. She heard him ask something about Snape's pants- and then she ran into the school and into the library. She needed to block things out.

* * *

"Lily?" came a voice from the shadows. It was really late, and Lily had fallen asleep in the Library. She looked up, her eyes red rimmed from crying from her anger.

"Go away..." she mumbled. The person, however, came closer- it was revealed to be two people- Owen and June. Owen was holding his wand in the hair, and June helped Lily up.

"Come on, love. We should get you to the Gryffindor Common Room before Filch catches us." June whispered. Owen nodded. Lily made a gnarl-ish noise but let herself be led out of the Library.

"Everybody was worried-" Owen started, then he rephrased himself. "Alice, April and May were worried about you. We went looking for you and I ran into June. She helped found you. I just followed."

Lily didn't miss the mention of another girl. "Annie's on Potter's side? Typical."

"Actually... we haven't told her." June said, awkwardly.

"Why?" Lily asked.

Owen shrugged. "James' parents are her guardians, and she's pretty independant. If she found out that James... was... well, was a douchebag, she'd probably just leave."

Lily was about to ask something else, when they heard a mew around their ankles. Owen, Lily, and June all looked at eachother and began to run for their lives. After a few steps, Owen tripped and fell- there was a loud hissing noise. "Run, guys!" he said, trying to get the crazed demonic Mrs. Morris off of him.

"Lily!" came a voice from infront of them. It was Alice. "Come on, we woke Filch up and he's _pissed. _I got her, June." she grabbed Lily's arm and the two started to run in a different direction then June, who ran to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

When they reached the Fat Lady, they both said small prayers before going into the Common Room. It was empty. "Thank god." Alice said under her breath. "C'mon." she and Lily walked up their staircase where April and May both started to spew out very abusive comments about Snape calling Lily... well, what he called her. Lily listened to them. 'I've got such loyal friends,' she thought, and she smiled.

* * *

The end of term neared fast. Soon, they were on the train back into the Muggle world. The Marauders were in one compartment, Lily and her friends in another, and Annie and Owen were just hanging out in the hall outside of Lily's.

"How did you get all those?" Annie asked, putting her hand under Owen's chin and tilting his head to the side so she could see some of the more vicious scratches. "I never asked."

"I fell." Owen replied. "On a cat."

Annie giggled. "Do they hurt?"

"Not really, anymore." Owen said, and he flexed his muscles playfully. "I'm a manly man."

"Who got beat up by a cat."

"Shut up." Owen said, and he started tickling her.

Her squeals of laughter were heard by the girls inside the compartment. "Are we going to tell her...?" Alice asked, holding Frank's hand.

"I dunno." Lily shrugged.

"Do you want her to know?" June asked.

Lily made a face. "I want her to know how big of a jerk he is, but if it makes her homeless, I think it's best off not... for the time being, anyways."

"How about a big glitter sign?" April suggested. "HEY ANNIE- YOUR FOSTER BROTHER IS AN ASSHOLE."

"It matches his personaliter." Frank said. "Flamboyant."

"He. Is. FABULOUS." May imitated, giving herself a lisp. Lily, filled with the mental image of James in a purple dress with a pink feathery boa, started laughing, and snorting in her laugh. This made Alice laugh, who made Frank laugh, and May, who had the mental image to begin with, started crying with laughter. April giggled like a maniac.

James, however was not giggling. He felt horrible. Sure, the Snape stunt got him some popularity... but he ended up losing Lily as a friend. "That's it." he said. "I'm screwed."

"You were screwed to begin with, Prongs." Sirius said, smirking. "She's just a chick. Move on."

Peter rolled his eyes. "He would have if he could have, Padfoot. I think he should apologize."

"Yeah right, Wormy."

"No. I will." James said, interrupting Peter's reply. This got Remus' attention.

"You're going to apologize to Snape?"

"No." James said, and he got up, looking out the window.

"I'm moving on."

* * *

Holy SUN OF A NEUTRON STAR! (Baaaad science reference, sorry) I have written this chapter in (checks watch) seven hours! I was supposed to be studying for exams but really, study for an english exam? Hah! My mom wasn't too happy. XD

I'm getting a laptop really soon, so I can update more quickly. And I found my copy of the fifth book! My brother took it and hid it in his clothes chest to annoy me. Thank god he didn't take out the sticky notes or it would have taken forever for me to find it.

And what's this I see? Plot developpment? May is making fun of James, who is one of Remus' best friends, which is a no-no. Several secrets are being kept from Annie, and she can control a part of her hair? James is moving on after Lily? Snape was actually a teenager, and not some twisted Franken-steinian creation? Lily loathes James again? Is there some sort of relationship blooming between Annie and Owen? Has anybody figured out who April's blonde ex with the bimbo from the ball was?

All yes, but the last question. Leave your guesses in your possible reviews!  
Now, for some review replies! :D

evershort: Wow, thats a big review. Made me feel good! :D And how to you change the language to PIRATE? I must look into this. I've been to a dance like that... I was more like Owen or Peter, just following my friends to make sure they don't do something dumb. _ This one was pretty short, about 3 500 or something. Ah well. I'm glad the comment made you laugh, cause it made me rofl when I re-read it a few days ago. HERE IS MORE!

stefffeeey: Okay, your username is hard to write out. I think I got it write. ANYWAYS. I can't put Annie and Sirius together... One, doesn't work with the mental-plan-ness and two, It would be arrogant to put an OC based off of me with easily the hottest character. Three... I have another fanfic planned whenever I finish this one. It's from George Weasley's POV. And he meets Annie's daughter. It's possibly even cuter. :3

.limits111: I love your avatar, by the way. The Hangover was an epic movie. Thanks about the writing. A girl at my school does that to me all the time... "Hey Courtney-" "YOU LOST THE GAME." So today I ran up behind and yelled, "THE GAME. YOU JUST LOST IT."

Revenge is a lion best served cold.  
Whoever knows where that is from wins a mention in the next chapter, or the one after, as a random OC. So put in a name with your guess (doesn't have to be yours. If you wanna be known as Pedro, put down PEDRO! :D)

Read and Review, loves!  
This is 26, signing off.


	18. Summer Nights, What a Blast

This chapter has some happy moments, some bonding moments, and some brief moments of child abuse...  
Reader discretion is advised. (I actually cried while writing it).

* * *

"Annie?" James asked, poking his head into the kitchens, where Annie was helping the house-elves cook.

"Yeah?" she said, coming out with her hair in a bun, wiping her hands on her apron. "What is it?"

"We got you an early birthday present." James said. It was July 8th, and so far he had managed to keep his fight a secret from Annie. He was afraid the same things that Lily and her friends were.

Annie smiled. "You guys didn't have to get me anything."

"Well, too late. From the Marauders and my parents." James said, and he held out his hand. "Come on."

"One sec, then," Annie replied, and she took off her apron and gave it to a house-elf. "Lead the way," she said, taking James' hand. He led her outside and to the Quidditch Pitch.

"The Quidditch Pitch?" Annie asked.

"I want you to be able to test it out." James said, and he handed her a broom-shaped package. Quizzical, Annie ripped off the packaging.

"James... This is a _Silver Arrow_." Annie said slowly.

"Yep."

"Why did you guys get me a broom for my birthday? You know I don't fly."

"Figured it would be a good time to try."

Annie opened and closed her mouth several times. "James, I _can't._" Annie looked away. "You know I can't. I promised. I never break my promises."

"Richard released you from that promise when he died. He would have wanted you to at least try, once." James said. "Come on."

'He's right about that. Rich told you so himself. He wanted you to fly. When he thought you would die together. Said he wanted you to feel the wind through your hair and the freedom that he felt,' a voice said in the back of her mind. 'Rich always wanted a _Silver Arrow_, too. Give it a try. Make him proud.'

"Okay!" Annie said, out loud, to herself. Then she looked at James. "Fine," she looked at the broom in her hand. "So how do I stand?"

"Put it on the ground." Annie just dropped it. "I meant, like actually put it on the ground- aught! - Never mind. Say up."

"Up."

"With feeling. And with your wand hand over it."

"Up."

"That's not with feeling."

"Up!" Annie said, and the broom flew up and hit her in the nose. "This broom is out to get me."

"Okay, try again..."

"Up!" she said, and it flew into her hand. "Now what?"

"Mount it." James said. "Okay, good, now just kick off lightly..."

Annie kicked, and she zoomed up, screaming.

"That's not lightly!" James shouted, but then Annie did a hairpin turn and flew right past him, now laughing. She managed to slow the broom down and jumped off. "TOUCHDOWN!" she said, mimicking throwing a ball to the ground and she did a little victory dance.

"What's a touchdown?" James asked.

Annie made a face. "It's from football."

"So... what's football?"

* * *

Lily sat at the dinner table, playing with her food. She was unbelievably bored.

Her mom noticed. "Lily, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Huh?" Lily asked, looking up.

"Probably day-dreaming about her boyfriend..." Petunia muttered.

Ellie Evans lit up brightly. "You have a boyfriend? Listen to that Steve, Lily has a boyfriend!"

Steve Evans looked at his wife, then at Lily, and he put his glasses on his forehead slowly. "Is this true, Lil?"

"Nope." Lily replied, suddenly cheerful. The look on Petunia's face was rather hilarious.

Ellie's face fell. "Oh. Well... we have good news!" she said, lighting up again. "We didn't have time to write, it really just happened, I'm so excited, I mean, oh, it's every mother's dream-"

"Petunia is engaged to Vernon," Steve cut his wife off.

"Vernon? Vernon Dursley?" Lily asked.

"What other Vernons do we know?" Petunia asked harshly. "But yes, I am now officialy engaged to Vernie."

Lily's gag reflex activated when she imagined the whale nicknamed as 'Vernie' but she managed to quell it. "When's the date?" she asked.

"During the Easter Holidays!" Ellie exclaimed, over Petunia. "Just so you can be a bridesmaid!"

"You want me to be a bridesmaid?" Lily asked Petunia, shocked.

Petunia sighed, irritated. "Well, Tawny is going on vacation then, so I had to have three, since Vernie has three men, so yeah. If you'll be one."

"O- Okay." Lily stuttered. "That should be fun."

"The colour theme is salmon." Petunia said. "Salmon and white."

"SALMON?" Lily asked her mom later, when the two were in the kitchen doing dishes. "Why the hell did she pick SALMON?"

"Sweetie, Salmon is a good colour with Petunia's complexion. Her roses will be salmon coloured, and it'll be lovely." Ellie replied.

"But I have RED hair. RED." Lily emphasised. "It'll clash horribly! More people will be focusing on the horrible colour choice then the bride!"

Ellie looked at Lily. "Yes, sad you have your father's hair. You would have been so pretty as a blonde. But red is very good on you as well," she smiled. "I'll talk to Petunia. The dresses haven't been ordered, maybe she'll change her mind."

"Thanks Mum." Lily said quietly. Her mom smiled and put away the last of the dishes before leaving the kitchen, but Lily sat on the counter, thinking.

"You alright, Lil?" Steve asked, walking into the kitchen and closing the door behind him.

Lily shrugged. "I fought with one of my- I had a fight with somebody I knew before I left."

"Want to talk about it?" Steve asked, adding, "Over ice cream?"

Lily slid off the counter and nodded.

The two, father and daughter, were now in the park, sitting on the swings. Lily had mint-chocolate-chip, and her dad had a milkshake. Lily explained it all rather quickly, saying that James was an annoying dirtbag who used to be her friend, but she had ended their friendship when he started to bully Snape. She said nothing about her itse bitse crush on him.

"It seems he likes you quite a bit, Lil," her dad said in the end. "But why does he always call you Evans?"

"Because he doesn't deserve to call me by my first name."

Steve laughed. "Oh, you're a fiery one. In a good way, of course. If you weren't as independant as you were I would have two daughters obsessed about fashion and engaged to whales."

Lily giggled. "I knew I wasn't the only one who thought he was huge."

"He snores, and it sounds like an aquarium is in the guest room." Steve said, and he started laughing again. "But about this James..."

"Dad..." Lily groaned.

"No, listen." Steve said firmly. "He may be a pure-blood or whatever it is, his dad may be an auror, but if he tries anything funny with you that you don't want to do, you tell me, alright? I'm not letting any prissy-spoiled boy ra-"

"DAD!" Lily exclaimed, and then she laughed. "Don't worry, he'll already be hospitalized from what April, May, Alice and June are planning in case that ever happens."

Steve took a sip of his milkshake, and smirked. "Good girls. Always have a USA handy just incase."

"USA? The country?" Lily asked.

"An Unexpected-Sack-Attack, Lil."

Lily giggled again, loving her dad's bluntness. "I'll make sure they keep that in mind."

"See that you do, Lil.

* * *

Later, at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, an argument had just broken out on the dinner table.

"What did you say, boy?" Orion Black demanded, getting up and glaring angrily at his older son, Sirius.

Sirius didn't want to look at his father, so he looked at the floor. "Muggleborn's aren't all that bad," he repeated. Of course, he knew that Lily had broken James' heart on multiple occasions, and Annie was known to bite off people's heads for the smallest comments or remarks, but they were both very nice people overall. Besides, he didn't want to sit around and let his family verbally assault a group of people when somebody he loved and cared about was a part of that group.

"You STUPID boy!" Walburga Black shrieked, and she threw her plate at Sirius, who tried ducking but the plate still hit the top of his head. It broke and he could feel something wet on his scalp. "MUDBLOODS are ignorant, they are filthy, and they are NOT WORTHY of LIFE."

Regulus didn't say anything. While he cared about Sirius, he also supported his parent's views to an extent. Saying nothing would be best. Besides... his mother was in a mood.

"THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE!" Sirius said, getting up abruptly, causing his chair to fly back.

Walburga smacked Sirius on the side of the head. "You stupid waste of my life. If only you were a Slytherin-"

"I would be stupid and an asshole, like the present company!" Sirius cut his mother off, very angry at this point.

Walburga whipped out her wand. "I'm warning you, boy."

"I don't give a damn about you and your warnings."

"_CRUCIO!"_ Walburga screamed, and Sirius fell to the ground. Regulus jumped up.

"Mom!" Regulus said. "Stoppit, you're hurting him!"

"He will learn to listen and to respect me. ORION. Take Regulus upstairs-" Walburga said, but at that moment, that small moment where her attention was someplace else, Sirius grabbed his wand.

"_Protego!_" he yelled, and then he got up. Sirius ran up the stairs and threw some stuff in a bag, where his most priceless possessions were already hidden, like his broom. "Fuck this place," he seethed. He could hear his parents arguing. Regulus appeared in the doorway.

"You're leaving?" Regulus asked.

Sirius closed his bag. "Yep. Had enough of this fucking blood-crazed demonic family. Thanks for 'helping' me back there." he walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder. "Seeya, Reg. Potter Manor!" he said, before throwing down the floo powder.

He stumbled out of the fireplace in the Potter's a while later, not taking for account the lateness of the hour. He checked a clock and saw it was nearly midnight. It had just occured to him, also, that his head was in a rather large amount of pain.

"Stop right there!" came a voice from the doorway, holding a light up. "I'm Harold Potter, member of the Auror- Sirius? What in the world are you doing here?" Harold lowered his wand and he saw James poke his head around his dad's back. "Hell, Padfoot, you're a mess." he said. "What happened?"

"Small argument at home." Sirius panted. "I can't stand it there, anymore, Prongs. I'm not going back."

"Nobody can make you, son." Harold said. "I'll tell Beth to come look at your head..." he said, before going away.

"What happened, Paddie?" James asked when the two were alone. Sirius quickly told James what had happened. James was pale when he finished.

"She Crucio'd you?" James asked again. "Dude, you have to tell somebody- that can land her in Azkaban!"

"I don't want her to know that she got to me."

"She threw a plate at your head!"

Sirius looked at his best friend. "James, I'm feeling pretty okay." he lied.

Bethanie walked in, with her wand and some bandages. "Okay, James. Go to bed, you can talk to him tomorrow."

James got up. "G'night, Padfoot."

"May the mischief be with you, Prongs." Sirius said, wincing at something that Beth was putting on the cut.

James smiled, and went upstairs to bed. It seemed that maybe, finally, things would work out.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, things seemed to calm down a little. Sirius' parents didn't bother looking for them- the one Howler they had sent had been thrown into the fire right before it had started to yell.

One afternoon, when Annie was out practising with her broom, Sirius and James were talking in the kitchen.

"You serious, Prongs?" Sirius asked, eating a doughnut.

James looked up from his Butterbeer. "Serious about what?"

"Getting over Lily, of course." Sirius sirius-ly replied. (AN: I'm sorry. I had to...)

"No. Yes... maybe." James stuttered. "I have to be, I guess. She doesn't like me jinxing Slytherins, but that's what I do! It's part of my charm! The Marauders before hoes, right?"

"You just called Lily a hoe."

"It's a general saying, okay?" James said, irritated. "I've like her almost since I've met her. I mean, I guess I should have got the message, or maybe actually ASKED HER OUT when we were actual FRIENDS, but I guess I was too scared. Can I be scared? I don't like being scared... I was scared of her turning me down and becoming my enemy again, but great fat help that did in the end... she hates me again! I have no idea what to do, Padfoot! I would apologize but she'd probably break my neck- or HEX me. Damn, if Lily hexed me... she's top in Charms and almost topped me in Transfiguration, I'd probably come out as a giant penguin with hives and jelly legs."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"That was deep, dude. Really deep."

"Thanks, Padfoot."

"Until you started talking about penguins. That was weird."

James sighed. "Thanks, Padfoot."

"Why's James talking about penguins?" Annie asked, walking in, covered in dirt. James grabbed his chest, almost having a heart attack.

"Prongs is weird," Sirius answered. "How comes the Quidditch training?" he asked.

"I'm not training for Quidditch, I'm just practising flying..." Annie said, and she looked at her legs, one of which was bleeding. She was actually almost completely covered in dirt. "I fell off into the gardens."

James and Sirius stared at eachother, and both started laughing their ass off.

"Shut up-" Annie started, then she was poked in the leg by a House-Elf.

"Letters for the young Masters and Mistress," he squeaked. Annie took them and smiled. "Thanks!" she said, and she threw James his letter and whipped Sirius' at his. She opened her own, and leaned against the wall to read.

James opened his. He saw something in it and grabbed it, holding it out. "Holy crap!" he exclaimed.

"Did you get all 'Outstandings' or something?" Annie asked, still immersed in hers.

"No, even better! I'm Quidditch Captain!" James exclaimed, looking at the badge with some sort of misty-eyed honor.

Annie looked up. "Really, James? Your entire future hangs on your grades and you focus on Quidditch... Of course."

Sirius, however did a few victory whoops before running over to James and looked at the badge. "Holy crap, I forgot Olivia was leaving..." he said quietly. "I guess you're my captain now! If I'm still on the team, that is. Annie, want to be my co-beater?"

"I probably won't make it, but I'll try. Sure." Annie said.

"Really?" Sirius asked, amazed.

Annie nodded. "What did you guys get?" she asked.

James looked at his marks. "O's in Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, and Defense. E's in Charms, Astronomy, History of Magic- basically everything else."

"You passed History of Magic, Prongs?" Sirius asked. "I fell asleep during the exam. I got an O in Charms 'stead of Care of Magical Creatures."

"You guys are so immature." Annie said, and she walked out.

Sirius put his letter down. "Wait up, Annie, I wanna help you train!"

Annie, however, took off. "NONONONONONO! JAMES! I AM NOT LETTING THE HYPERACTIVE 16-YEAR OLD TRAIN WITH ME! MAKE HIM STOPPIT!" she screamed.

"God dammit." James said under his breath. "I wonder what Lily got- NO. James, bad. You're over Lily..." he walked out, after Sirius and Annie.

The House-Elf who had given them the letters stared. "Tinky is very confused." it said, before walking out, trying to make itself forget about its crazy masters, specially the one who talked to himself.

* * *

"MUUUUM!" Lily yelled. "I am going to be late for the train!" she said, jumping up and down slightly. Her OWL's were great- all O's except in Astronomy and Transfiguration, which were E's.

"I'm coming, Lily!" her mom said, running down the stairs. She grabbed her keys and walked outside. Grabbing her bags, Lily followed. Her dad and sister weren't home- something about booking a service, whatever that meant.

In the car, Lily was pretty quiet. "Excited for school, dear?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah." Lily said in a low voice.

"You'll do fine in- what is it? SALAMANDER?" Ellie asked.

Lily grinned. "N.E.W.T."

"You'll do fine in NEWT level, don't worry. And your friends should be anxious to see you, letters flying in and out- are the girls coming, by the way?"

"April, May and June said they're coming for sure, but Alice might not be able to. I'll write you when we find out for sure." Lily said, as they pulled up to the station.

"Need help finding the platform?" Ellie asked.

Lily smiled. "I'll do fine, Mum. Love you, and send me plenty of treats. I'll need it." she kissed her mother on the cheek before grabbing her bags and walking into the station. She saw the time and took off at a run.

When she got to the train, the platform was almost empty. She ran onto the train, and right into Annie.

"Running late?" Annie asked, helping Lily up.

"Yeah- sorry for not sending you a card," Lily said, grabbing her bags.

"It's alright. I got a broom. Sirius was training me so hard to be a Beater I doubt I would have had time to read it!" Annie said, giggling. "Come on, I'll help you find them."

Lily walked with Annie for a bit. "How were things at Potter's?" she asked.

"They were okay. He kept on pulling small pranks on the House-Elves, though. He's so mean to them sometimes..." Annie said, and she sighed. "Ah well, it wasn't too bad."

"Yeah, he likes pulling pranks on people that barely deserve it." Lily muttered. "Like Snape- what the hell did he do to deserve that..." she said, forgetting something _veeeery _important.

"But Snape jinxed his legs together right before James cast the Jelly-Legs Jinx on him." Annie said.

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, like, right after our Defense OWL..." she stopped, and her eyes opened very wide.

"What happened right after your Defense OWL?" Annie asked.

"Weeeell..." Lily said, backing away slightly.

"LILY," Annie said, sparks flying from her eyes. And was it just Lily, or was Annie's hair looking a little maroon?

"Potter cast a full body freezing charm on Snape, and then did a Scourgify on him, and I tried stopping him, and he was being an ass, and then Snape cast some curse at Potter, so Snape was hanging upside down and being publicly humiliated. Then he had the nerve to ask me out, after I stated that I hated him..." Lily said, and she grew angry as well. Annie seemed to be calm, except her eyes looked like they wanted to murder somebody slowly and painfully.

"Hey Lily!" June said, seeing the two. "What's up? We were wondering where you were- where's Annie going?" she asked, remarking that though Lily had stopped, Annie seemed to keep on going, fists clenched.

"I think we're going to think of an alibi for her," Lily said.

"Why?" June asked. Then she gaped. "You TOLD her?"

"It slipped out!" Lily exclaimed. "Come on, let's just go to the compartment."

"What about James?"

"Potter can deal with his own issues."

* * *

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were relaxing in their own compartment at the end of the train. Suddenly Annie burst in.

"Hey Ann-" Remus started, but he was cut off.

"You ASSHOLES." Annie said loudly to Sirius and James.

Both got up. "Excuse me?" Sirius asked.

"Why the hell did you try to CHOKE Snape with friggin PINK SUDSY BUBBLES?" Annie demanded very loudly.

"Oh." James said quietly. "I'm guessing you found out."

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Annie demanded. "All friggin summer, I had NO IDEA that you and Lily weren't friends anymore- I bet you were all having a nice laugh behind my back, huh? 'Haha, that little stupid girl who can't even fly right'" she said in a deep voice, imitating Sirius.

Sirius' face grew really dark. "Hey, if you don't want a broom, I can take it back," he snarled.

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, surprised that Sirius would say something in that tone to Annie.

"Oh, I'd like to see you try," Annie scoffed.

"And then you can be just like Richard." Sirius said, and then something happened that he did not expect. Annie slugged him on the right side of his head, making his ears pop. A months worth of Beater training had made her a formidable fighter. "BITCH!" he shouted, and Annie's hair turned a bright, fiery red.

"You're becoming just like Bellatrix. I bet your mommy will be so proud." Annie sneered. "I hope you, and your entire fucking family, go to hell!" she screamed that last word.

James took out his wand. "_Protego_!" he said, to stop Annie or Sirius from killing eachother. Annie wasn't even mad at James anymore, it seemed.

"I bet you'll join your entire family soon. I hope you do." Sirius snarled. "I'll congratulate whoever does it."

"SIRIUS!" James yelled, shocked that Sirius would say something like that.

Annie was left silent. Tears well up in her eyes- her hair turned black, and she turned to go. "It was nice knowing you guys." she whispered, and she left.

Sirius was about to yell something after her. For a few minutes he was suspended in shock, and in anger. Then he sat down. "Guys... what did I just do?"

Peter, who was hiding his face during the fight, looked up. "You fucked things up, Padfoot."

"You fucked things up big."

* * *

TWO CHAPTERS IN TWO DAYS OMIGOD WHAT IS GOING ON? It's also 4000 words long. I'm impressed with my own abilities.

So, nobody guessed from last chapter, so I'll repost them right here..  
1. Who was April's douchy blonde ex from the dance with the hoe? (Hint, he's in the same chapter mentioned by name)  
2. What is 'Revenge is a lion best served cold' a take off of? (Hint, The grass is always greener on the other side of the lion)

Now, for some reviews. By the ways, I wrote this instead of studying for science. _ Ima die tomorrow.

Asha: HERE IS MORE LILY!

ELLA: Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't. Using the CAPS LOCK FURY a little much there?

potterrocks0393: Damn, I totally forgot to do a Lily thing. That chapter's been out for almost a year and NOBODY has pointed that out. You get an E-Cookie and a special mention as an OC in the next chapter. You will be... Damn, I dunno. Rocks... Rocksie? ROXIE. You will be Roxie. :D

chocopaisley61: You don't know how warm and fuzzy it makes me to hear that. And so, my ego grew three sizes this day... Thanks! :D

evershort: I DID IT. Omigosh, I laughed sooo hard when I saw it. Thanks! And WHY DID YOU GUESS A PLOT DEVICE? Two days ago I was all 'Okay, so Lily will tell Annie about it and she gets soooo pissed she gets her abilities back'. Then today I read that! I would have totally used that if I hadn't already thought of it. I don't mind long reviews! :D

junebugbug96: Just to let you know, I started rapping 'June bug bug' over and over reading your review. xD Wow... CRAZY COINCIDENCES. My b-day is in June! And my moms old Highschool BFF was June! I have a neighbor named June! Alot of June things. Is 14 a good age? WINK WINK WINK WINK. James says he gives up, but on the back of his mind it will always be Lily. Boys will be squids.

Hope you guys liked this! :D

Read and Review, loves...

This is 26, signing off.

PS. I am going to get SO much hate-mail for the Sirius-Annie fight. Ah well, they make up soon, never fear. I have it planned out.  
PPS. Post your answers in your reviews! Your guess could be right by accident, so GOOD LUCK!


	19. A Visit from Voldy!

James woke up bright and early the first Saturday after term started, and then he realized two things- one, it was raining. Two, he had booked the Quidditch Pitch for the tryouts. Not only Olivia left- Jessica Hakes and Thomas Brown had left as well, so he also needed two Chasers. Then he decided to simply do tryouts for all the team, knowing that April, Josh Thatch and Sirius would probably get back on the team anyways.

The only problem, besides the weather, was that Sirius and Annie still hadn't made up for their fight and the third-years were REALLY pissed about what Sirius said about Annie's family, ignoring the fact that Annie had basically done the same thing. James had managed to calm down an angry Owen, Samantha, Charlie and a VERY angry Juliet. Jordan, Evan, Alex and Tristan had merely sent Sirius death glares in the Common Room, to which Sirius would flip them off.

James walked down to the Quidditch Pitch, skipping breakfast. In one of the halls he was joined by Annie, who was holding her broom tightly. Her hair, which she had gained a great amount of control over, was long, sky blue, and in a braid.

"You alright?" James asked. Annie nodded.

"Is Sirius going to be there?" she asked.

James nodded back. "It's tryouts for the whole team. For Beaters, I figured you guys would just hit Bludgers at moving targets or something. Should be easy, right?"

"Yep." Annie said, and she looked a bit more cheery. The two walked out into the rain and in moments they were both drenched. "Oh, this'll be fun," she grumbled.

Soon, there was a large amount of people trying out. Including Sirius and Annie, there were eleven people trying out for Beater, and then there were twelve, including Josh, trying out for Chaser. It was only April and a shy-looking second year trying out for Keeper, and the girl looked like she wanted to stay firmly on the ground.

James, though, wanted to at least let her try. She was absolutely dreadful, only saving one goal, but she seemed a little happy when she was back on the ground. April saved four out of five and was back on the team.

And so, the Chaser tryouts began. Three of the twelve ended up crashing to the ground when they were flying- some were horrible, some were okay, but one guy, who he reconized as Cameron Macula, was actually almost better then Josh. He was accepted onto the team almost automatically, Josh was as well, and then there was a girl named Bridget Baines who got accepted as well. A girl named Roxie had actually flown a bit better, but she was uber popular, and also in tons of clubs, and James wanted somebody who could easily adapt to schedual. Roxie took this all with good humor and skipped off, singing. She said 'Good luck' to Sirius, and winked, before leaving the pitch.

Now came something that James dreaded the most. He had every person, first, fly a few laps around the pitch carrying the heavy bat- five people actually dropped it, one almost hitting Bridget and another actually hitting one of the rejected Chasers, who was trying to get their broom from the ground. Annie had actually outflown her group of four, and James couldn't tell if it was her fast broom, her wish to be able to get onto the team or just her natural abilities (her brother being a natural Quidditch player when HE was at Hogwarts) helping her. Sirius had outflown his group as well- but he was also very used to the bat.

Soon, he had narrowed it down to three people. Annie, Sirius, and a boy in seventh year named Nick Nolty. Then he asked his three Chasers to fly around the pitch holding large, neon targets. The goal was to hit each target, and only three hits were allowed. The two Bludgers were released.

Sirius was first. He flew after one of the Bludgers, did a U-Turn, flew back, and then hit it when it was following him. It flew over to Bridget, and hit her, but the Cushioning Charm placed on the targets prevented her from falling off. He did the same for the second, aiming it at Josh. Direct hit. For Cameron, well, need you ask? He aced it. James grinned.

"Annie, you're up!" James said. Annie grabbed her bat and flew up. A Bludger went for her immediately. She hit it, and it flew to Cameron, hitting his target. She flew around, and the second Bludger came at her side- she turned quickly and hit it to Josh, getting the side of the target but nonetheless hitting it. But the first Bludger started chasing her. 'Think, Annie- What did Sirius tell you to do?' she thought, and then she blanked. Sirius. She swung, angry, and missed completely. Sirius started laughing. Annie started to fly back down, but stayed in the air.

Nick was called up. The first, he got perfectly, and he almost knocked Bridget off her broom, Cushioning Charm and all. The second, he succeded in making Cameron fall, but Cameron had managed to hold onto his broom for dear life with one hand, pulling himself back on. However, for the third target... Nick chased the Bludger and hit it- with _spin_. It went completely off-course and went flying towards where Annie was hovering on her broom. It hit the end of her broom, making her have to hold on to avoid flying off. The Bludger did a U-Turn and went back towards her- she held her broom with her knees and gripped her bat tightly, and hit the Bludger back to Nick, who screamed and ducked.

It took a few moments for people to realize what just happened. James looked at the sky, now totally confused. Annie, however, flew to the ground where her friends tackled her laughing, saying that if that didn't make James get her on the team he was insane. Even Sirius looked a little impressed- Nick, however, looked venomous. He went to James and asked if Annie had gotten on the team.

James stood silent for a few minutes. Nick had the bat in his hand, he was soaked, and he was seething with anger. "Yes, and you're not." James said. "Thanks for trying out."

"WHAT?" Nick shouted, as Juliet and Charlie started screaming for Annie, and the third year girls immediately ran up to the castle in the rain to tell everyone that the midget third-year had beat a seventh year. Annie went with them, not objecting the comment about her natural height this once. "HOW THE HELL DID SHE BEAT ME?"

James stood again for a few minutes, thinking. "She didn't scream like a little girl when a Bludger came flying towards her."

"But she's a GIRL!" Nick exclaimed.

"Who managed to make you duck and scream in fear." James said dryly. "Get lost, Nick."

* * *

After a few weeks, James was half glad with his choice, half regretting it. Nick was giving him the foulest of looks whenever he saw him, but on the other hand, Annie was a great teammate- during practises, she was even slightly civil to Sirius for the sake of the team. But one day, Nick decided to go further. He was pissed, and REALLY pissed, an almost-Slytherin Pure-blood. He decided, if he couldn't get back at the captain, get back at the person who had made him look like a fool.

It was really just a few days before the first match. It was a couple days after full moon, and James was still recovering- Remus had been a little crazy that night. Sirius had a series of scratches on his back, but James had a full-out gash on his chest. Anyways, the match was the day before Halloween- and a day before a Hogsmeade day, which made some people pretty damn excited. But anyways- what Nick did.

Annie was studying something in the Library for her Ancient Runes class. A shadow was cast over her table, and she looked up. Nick was leaning against a shelf, and Annie was amazed it didn't fall under his weight.

"How's it going, _Mudblood_?" Nick asked venomously. Annie was taken aback that he would do something like that, but she made herself look pretty calm.

"It's fine- screamed like a little girl lately?" Annie asked.

Nick did a harsh laugh. "I have something to ask you, little Mudblood," he paused. "I want you to quit the team."

"Why?" Annie asked.

"Because I can play. I deserve it better then you do."

"You're cleary delusional."

Nick swiped Annie's books off the table. He took out his wand, and held it threatingly in her face. Then he aimed his wand at her arm, and then there was a burnt hole in her sleeve.

Annie grabbed her arm- it STUNG like crazy. "Asshole." she muttered, and she grabbed her bags and left, unawares that James and Peter had just overheard the entire thing. They looked at eachother and then at Nick. Peter shot a Bat Bogey Hex at him, while James did a non-verbal spell that rendered the asshole upside down.

Nick started yelling and screaming, not aware of who had done that. James and Peter promptly left the Library.

Remus and Sirius stared on hearing about it. "You pranked Nick?" Remus asked. "He's the size of a troll!"

"And trolls are stupid. Just like Nick," Sirius said. "Well, did anybody find out?"

"I don't think-" James started, but he was cut off my a loud "POTTER!"

Lily walked up to him. "Nick Nolty was just found in the Library being attacked by Bogey-Bat-Things, while hanging upside down."

"Your point, Evans?" James asked.

"Did you do it?"

"Yes, why does it matter? Going to give us a detention?"

Lily glared at him. "I could tell Professor McGonagall. I'm sure she won't find it as amusing, as you do, Potter."

"You wouldn't dare!" James shouted.

"Do it again, and I might," Lily said. "Remus, we have to patrol the school tonight. Meet here at like eight-ish?" she asked. Remus nodded and she left.

"Damn. Moony is is getting more Lily then Prongs is!" Sirius said, and he burst out laughing. Remus hit him on the arm.

"Keep your voice down ,Padfoot, May might get the wrong ideas. She's really insecure lately."

"Sorry, Moony. I just meant that the odds are better of you and her sno-"

"SHUT UP, PADFOOT."

"Shutting!"

* * *

The day of the match came in a frenzied flurry of mixed emotions. When James walked into the change-rooms expecting to be the only one there, he saw Annie and Cameron Macula talking to each other. It was their first game, and the two of them were very nervous. James hung back in the doorway, noticing that Cameron was holding Annie's hands and they were sitting closer then normal friends do.

"You're gonna do fine, Annie," Cameron said. "How could somebody with an a-" he started, but then he noticed James. "Such an arm do badly?"

Annie laughed and got up, letting go of Cameron's hands. "Excited for the match?" she asked. James nodded, a little surprised that Annie wasn't even trying to cover it up or anything- that she and Cameron were openly flirting.

But over the next couple of minutes people started coming, and soon, the entire team was present, dressed, and armed with brooms and bats. Sirius and Annie were still avoiding eachother. They were all looking at James, who realized he should do a pre-game speech. "Well-" he said, clapping his hands together. "We're finally here, team. This is it. If we do great here, and we will- we're against SLYTHERIN, for pete's sake- we can probably get ahead of the other houses in the running for the Cup. We have the skill- they have the size- and I think skill is more important then troll-resemblence in Quidditch. So let's get out there and show them what we've got! GRYFFINDOR!" he raised his broom in the air and repeated the last word, and the others did so as well. They walked out, to see the Slytherin team walking out.

"AND WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTS, WITCHES AND WIZARDS, TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, TO THE FIRST GAME OF THE HOGWARTS CUP! HERE COME THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM- THE SEEKER, AND THE CAPTAIN, JAMES POTTER!" the stands erupted in cheers- however, Lily and her friends remained stony silent. "THE BEATERS, BLACK AND HEART! CHASERS THATCH, MACULA AND BAINES! KEEPER, ZELAN!" That's when the Gryffindor team went wild, Lily and her friends included. Somebody shouted, when April's name was called, "I wanna be the daddy of your babies!"

Remus laughed. "ALRIGHT, KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS-"

"LUPIN!"

"Sorry. ANYWAYS, HERE COMES THE SLYTHERIN TEAM..." he said, and he had to stop himself from groaning. The Slytherin team had a new captain as well, one of the chasers, Matt Solar, who had simply replaced the people that left with boys that looked like they were part giant. "CAPTAIN MATT SOLAR AND HIS FELLOW CHASERS, WATERHOUSE AND LUZE! THE BEATERS, OCTEL AND CHEVRON! THEIR SEEKER, SCOTFORD! AND KEEPER, NORTON!" The Slytherins, and a few of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, cheered. "THE CAPTAINS SHAKE HANDS- THE SNITCH IS RELEASED... AND THE GAME BEGINS!"

James flew around the pitch. He was unsure of where to go. It was dark and growing darker by the second. He could only hear Remus' commentary.

"Damn, it's hard to see... SLYTHERIN HAS THE QUAFFLE. WATERHOUSE TO SOLAR, TO LUZE, TO SOLAR- HE SPEEDS TOWARDS THE GRYFFINDOR GOAL POSTS- HE SHOOTS-" Remus groaned. "SLYTHERIN LEAD TEN TO ZERO." James swore. It started to pour, and he flew around, looking for a glimmer of light that could be the Snitch.

"SLYTHERIN IN POSSESION... LUZE THROWS TO SOLAR, SOLAR THROWS BACK TO LUZE- MACULA INTERCEPTS! MACULA TO THATCH, THATCH TO BAINES, BAINES TO MACULA! MACULA FUMBLES THE QUAFFLE- OH, WHAT A MARVELOUS CATCH BY BAINES! BAINES SHOOTS- SCORES! THE SCORE IS TIED AT TEN-TEN."

"GRYFFINDOR IN POSSESSION... THATCH THROWS TO MACULA- MACULA HIT HARD WITH A BLUDGER FROM CHEVRON! GRYFFINDOR LOSES THE QUAFFLE, BUT NOT A CHASER. LUZE TO SOLAR, SOLAR TO WATERHOUSE, WATERHOUSE PREPARES TO THROW- HIT WITH A BLUDGER DIRECTED FROM HEART!" James grinned, hearing this, but his grin slid off his face like Stinksap, realizing he could barely see- his glasses were covered in water. "AND GRYFFINDOR CALLS A TIME-OUT."

The team flew to the ground. "You alright, James?" Josh asked.

"Can't see." James said, taking off his glasses. "Nice job with the Bludger, by the way, Annie." Annie's thanks were overridden by a jealous Sirius.

"Just cast _Impervius _on them," he said impatiently. James did so.

"Thanks, Padfoot," James said, and he put them back on, relieved that now, instead of watery blurs, he saw six people staring at him. "Let's go, then!"

"Amen!" Annie said, and she mounted her broom and flew off.

"Impatient little bitch, isn't she?" Sirius mumbled, and he flew off as well. The rest of the team flew back into the sky- and the game re-began!

Pretty soon, the Gryffindors and the Slytherins were tied, fifty points a piece. That's when James saw it- the glimmer of light by the Gryffindor goalposts, right by April's left foot.

"AND WHATS THIS? POTTER'S SEEN THE SNITCH! SCOTFORD FOLLOWS QUICKLY, BUT IT SEEMS TO BE-" Remus gasped, as did most of the Gryffindor fans. "POTTER IS HIT IN THE HEAD WITH A BLUDGER DIRECTED BY CHEVRON!" Remus exclaimed. "Somebody help him out..." he mumbled. Josh and April, who were nearest, flew to support James, who was very dizzy. However, in a few minutes, James was pushing them away. Sirius flew over to Annie.

"Why didn't you stop that Bludger?" he yelled.

"Oh, because the other Bludger that was trying to impale Bridget wasn't of any importance!" Annie snapped.

"We can't win the game without James!"

"Oh yeah, because it's impossible to get 160 points above the Slytherins!"

"AND IT SEEMS BLACK AND HEART ARE ARGUING OVER SOMETHING... COME ON GUYS, BREAK IT UP!" Remus said. Annie, angrily, flew off. Sirius did so as well, but in the opposite direction. "OKAY, OKAY... SLYTHERIN IN POSSESION. WATERHOUSE HAS THE QUAFFLE- DODGES A BLUDGER FROM BLACK! WATERHOUSE PASSES TO LUZE, BACK TO WATERHOUSE... WATERHOUSE IS NOW NEARING THE GOALPOSTS- SHOOTS, AND-!" Remus groaned. "SLYTHERIN LEAD SIXTY TO FIFTY."

"YOU COULD HAVE HIT A BLUDGER AT HIM!" Sirius yelled at Annie, who was flying past him to get a bludger that was being rather reckless. She stopped and turned back to look at Sirius.

"How about you stop bitching about the way I play, and-" Annie snapped, but she couldn't, since she was just knocked off her broom by the reckless Bludger, which had been hit by Chevron, who was right behind her, and hit her in the back.

"AND HEART IS FALLING!" Remus yelled. (A/N: Okay, yeah, Annie gets hurt ALOT, but it makes sense in the end. Trust me.) "SOMEBODY CATCH HER BEFORE-" the entire crowd- including the Slytherins- flinched as Annie crashed against the mud. She didn't move. A few teachers ran out, and magicked her onto a stretcher. Something glinted on the ground beside her, but James could see it was not the Snitch- he continued to fly, and he saw Sirius was holding onto his bat very tightly, and his face was pale. "Let's end this game!" James yelled.

The following few minutes were marked by many injuries, including Solar getting a broken jaw, and his Beater's retaliation got Bridget with a broken ankle, and she insisted on staying in the game. The Gryffindors were playing as vicious as the Slytherins were- and if possible, even worse. Many penalty shots were given on both sides- soon, the score was a hundred and twenty to a hundred and thirty, with Slytherin in the lead.

"A BLUDGER IS HIT TOWARDS WATERHOUSE... HE DODGES..." Remus said, now rather bored. However, he sat up immediately. "I BELIEVE SCOTFORD HAS SEEN THE SNITCH- AND AWAY POTTER GOES, AS WELL! HE'S CATCHING UP! THEY'RE NECK AND NECK!"

James and Scotford were both reaching and racing towards the Snitch. James barely noticed people booing (Slytherins) and cheering (Almost everybody else), and was nearly hit by a Bludger.

"I hope you join your Mudblood friend soon, Potter!" Scotford hissed. The word 'Mudblood' set off something- he saw so many things- Death Eaters, Nick Nolty threating Annie, and Snape calling Lily a Mudblood. He saw Lily saying that she hated him, and he remembered the few brief months when they were friends...

Powered by his mixed feelings of anger, and sadness, and fear, fear caused by the Death Eaters, he urged himself a bit further- and he grabbed the small, golden ball.

The stage erupted into cheers. Remus was screaming the final score, two-hundred and seventy to a hundred and thirty, into the megaphone. A crowd of people ran onto the field, cheering James' name.

James emerged from the changing rooms a while later. His feelings and Annie would have to wait- he had one hell of a party to attend.

* * *

The next day, at noon, the Marauders walked out of the castle and onto the grounds, laughing, heading into the Hogsmeade direction. Other students walked lazily behind them. Infront of them was Lily and her friends, and infront of them, were all of Annie's friends. Annie herself was sleeping in the Hospital Wing, her broken bones repaired, but her body still very fragile, and Madame Pomfrey didn't even let anybody visit her- apparantly, she didn't want her little patient over-exerting herself.

"It's a great day for a visit to Hogsmeade!" James exclaimed, trying to cheer Sirius up. His anger towards Annie had disapeared the moment she fell off her broom, and now he felt guilty. Pouty Sirius was barely any better then Harsh Sirius.

Sirius nodded glumly.

"And we won the match by a hundred and forty points!" Remus said, catching onto what James was doing. Sirius, however, wouldn't have any of it, and he quietly asked them to shut the hell up and let him wallow in his guilt.

"Padfoot, it's Hogsmeade!" Peter squeaked. "Zonko's and Butterbeer and Rosmerta!" Peter said, making out Rosmerta's rather curvy body with his hands.

"What good is Zonko's when I'm so depressed?" Sirius moaned.

Remus groaned. Sirius was fine and dandy last night, snogging random girls at random, but now... geez. "You've got so much to be thankful for and you focus on one bad thing that's barely bad at all!"

"What can I be thankful for, Moony?"

"Let's see. We won the game. Annie should be out of the Hospital Wing in two days time. Prongs, Wormtail and I aren't trying to murder you. Voldemort activity has quieted down, and May isn't as insecure as usual lately." Remus ticked them off on his fingers.

"Speaking of which, why aren't you with her today?" Peter asked.

"Something about how she wanted some space or something," Remus grumbled. "She's sending me so many mixed signals! Her hormones are like-"

"She isn't pregnant, right?" Sirius asked, and Remus stopped walking. He was pale, and he started to have a small twitch in his nose. There was a moment of the three staring at him, and they all burst out laughing. "Oh god, you should see your face!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I'm so glad you're better now, Padfoot."

Sirius and his friends made it into the main street of Hogsmeade. "What is my troubles to the wonderful-ness of Hogsmeade?" he asked. "Let's go to Zonko's." James and Peter grinned widely. Remus, still in shock from the idea of being a dad, was able to smile slightly.

"It's pretty cold, you noticed?" Peter said after a bit of walking.

"What's with all this fog?" James asked. "I think we took a wrong turn or something. Padfoot, where are we? Padfoot?" he asked, turning. They were in an alleyway- infront of them were three masked Death Eaters- and Lord Voldemort himself.

"Well, well, if it isn't Mister Potter," Voldemort hissed. "And Mister Black... Your cousin is rather excited to see you, Mister Black..."

Sirius, however, reached for his wand and looked at a morbidly obese Death Eater. "Well, she has put on some weight, but I do reconize her."

"Fool!" Voldemort exclaimed. "Finish them off." he said to a Death Eater... and he walked off, revealing a gap. There were only a few people in the streets- everybody else were either going into shops to hide or already in them. There were Dementors and Death Eaters everywhere.

A Death Eater turned to James, who had his wand out, wary. "Did he call you Potter? Your parents have given me a bit of trouble, Potter... I can't wait until they hear about your death... _Crucio!"_

James crippled to the floor, and he wanted to yell out for his friends to help him, but he saw that they were duelling the other Death Eaters. Remus and Peter were both blocking curses from the obese one, and the third Death Eater was being covered by Sirius.

James was in extreme pain, and he screamed- loud. This, this yell, attracted the attention of one of the few in the streets, seperated from her friends- Lily Evans, who rapidly put two-and-two and shrieked, "_Protego Horrobilis!_" James felt the pain leave, and the Death Eater turned to see who would be able to cast such a spell, thinking a Professor was there. He saw Lily instead and was very confused. "Grab her!" he yelled to some Dementors, who swooped towards Lily, and she was nearly helpless.

Sirius diverted his attention from his attacker to the Death Eater who was turning to the in-shock James. "_Petrificus Totalus!" _he yelled, and the Death Eater fell to the floor. James blinked and saw Lily be nearly covered by a Dementor.

His dad had told him of the only spell known to counter a Dementor, when he was young. It needed a perfectly happy memory to work, and was draining. James pointed his wand and thought of the time, which was one of the few things he could think of at the moment, when he realized that Annie was not going to die. "_EXPECTO PATRONUM!" _he shouted, and a silver stag erupted from his wand, chasing down the Dementors near Lily. James ran over to her and helped her up.

"I still hate you, James." she whispered, holding onto James, very weak.

"I know." James said. "But do you hate Remus?"

"No, why?"

"Because he's about to be mowed down by a Death Eater!"

Remus was twitching on the ground, and the obese Death Eater above him. Peter was unconcious in a corner, and Sirius was fighting his Death Eater and losing. "_DURO!" _the two yelled, and the obese Death Eater was now a statue of an obese man, made of stone. Sirius, on instinct, turned to see if Remus was okay, and was blasted into where Peter was. Sirius struggled to get up, but he was pressed down by a spell.

"Keep them down." Voldemort hissed to the Death Eater, who nodded. The Dementors were gone, as were the other Death Eaters. It looked like they were about to leave. "Now, Potter and Evans, both of you have proven yourselves to me quite admirably."

"How do you know my name?" Lily asked, terrified. This was the man who had murdered so many, the reason that Annie was an orphan, the reason, that every morning, that she woke up crying because of nightmares, and hoping that her family was okay.

"Nothing is hidden from Lord Voldemort..." Voldemort said. "Now, I am always looking for talented witches and wizards such as yourselves as Death Eaters, so why don't you join me? If you did, I promise that Evans' pitiful blood status would be forgotten."

James flared with anger. "I'd rather go to hell then join you."

"Very well. Then you must die." Lord Voldemort and his lone Death Eater raised their wands, when there was a new voice.

"I am afraid I cannot let you do that, Tom," Dumbledore said. Voldemort turned to see most of the Hogwarts staff pointing their wands at him, and his lone Death Eater. McGonagall was helping Remus, Peter and Sirius. Flitwick was conjuring ropes to tie up the immobilised Death Eater.

Voldemort saw he was outnumbered. "Darin- we must find your Mudblood brat some other time, come!"

Upon hearing the name uttered by Bellatrix, the name of the person who had helped ruin the life of somebody he loved very much, Sirius charged at Darin, forgetting that Darin was a full-grown murderer, and he was but an angry teenager. It make no difference- Voldemort and Darin had Disapparated when Lord Voldemort had said 'Come!' and Sirius was tackling the empty air.

* * *

Later, the Hospital Wing was full of students. Lily was on a bed eating a chocolate chunk the size of her two fists together, and April and Alice were with her, trying to get the full story out of her. Remus was on a bed, sleeping, relieved of the curse that the obese Death Eater, and May was next to him, holding his hand. Peter was on the other side, keeping Remus company. Annie was asleep on her own bed, and Juliet was sitting next to her arranging all sorts of small gifts that some people had sent Annie, while Charlie, Samantha and Owen waited anxiously. James and Sirius were leaning against a wall, watching it all.

Then Dumbledore walked in, and he went over to James and Sirius. "I hope you are all alright?" he asked.

"Everybody's fine now. God, Professor, if you hadn't seen the Dark Mark..." James said, and he shuddered. When the fog cleared, shortly after Voldemort disapeared, they could see the Dark Mark clear in the sky.

Dumbledore smiled a small smile. "It was not I who had seen the Dark Mark. None of the staff did."

"Who, then? A student?" Sirius asked, curious.

"It was little Anne, who had woken up from her sleep to see the Dark Mark, and screamed very loudly for a few minutes, then, after a member of the staff alerted the rest of us, was put back to sleep by Madame Pomfrey. She was quite a wreck. Crying and shrieking that all her friends were down there." Dumbledore smiled again. "Now, I must speak with Madame Pomfrey, excuse me." he walked off, humming slightly.

James and Sirius walked over to Remus, but not noticing that Annie was stirring, and Juliet, Charlie and Samantha all hugged her, crying. Owen was holding some flowers in his hands and he held them out to her as a get-well gift.

"Give him today, Padfoot." James whispered, and Sirius nodded. He caught Annie's eye and sent her a look that said, 'I'm sorry'. She sent one back that said, 'I know'. James saw this and smiled, until he caught Lily's eye. Lily nodded, as if to say, 'Thank you', but James could see it would take more then a Dementor attack to stop her from hating him.

James sat next to Remus and smiled at his friends. Whatever that he had to do to gain Lily's favor would have to wait- he was happy, happy to have been able to survive another adventure.

* * *

THE CHAPTER ALONE IS 5199 WORDS! OMIGOSH!  
I wanted to have this uploaded yesterday, on the 26th, but it was my birthday and I went shopping and got chocolate and candy and a video game and some clothes and ALICE IN WONDERLAND (which I LOVE) so yeah. xD I took a break, cause now I'm halfway to thirty!

Okay, so since nobody guessed, I'll give you the answer to the second thing. It was from a webcomic called Questionable Content which I follow almost religiously- I really love it. LOVE IT. It's funny, cute, and has awesome drawings.

The first question, I'll pose again, with a bigger hint.  
WHO WAS APRIL'S BLONDE EX FROM THE BALL, WHO WAS WITH THE RANDOM GIRL, AND HINT, HE HAD A HICKEY ON HIS NECK!  
Good luck. And if you guess right, I'll put either the name you give me or the name taken from your username (such as this Chapter's ROXIE) into the next chapter!

Now, for some reviews. :3

junebugbug96: I normally am quite awful at updating too, but exams just finished so I'm pretty free. :D Dun worry, I'm not a stalker. I'll just try to update on your b-day and be all HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUNEEEEEEE! Haha, I'm weird. And Sirius is just going through your typical douche-stage. Hope this is enough cleaning up- Sirius and Annie just have a mutual understanding. Annie realized that she can't live without Sirius there to back her up, cause he's the only 'brother' she has now and Sirius realized how important he was to her, and how important she is to him. His mom is the person I love to hate. :D

.limits111: My dad is just like that... xD And it's rather hilarious. He's very overprotective of me. HERE IS AN UPDATE! :D

chocopaisley61: You are rather correct, about Sirius. Both overreact, cause both also have horrible tempers. And two months isn't too long... right? xD Maybe. Annie's got a grudge thing going on, and Sirius now, with the Darin thing, also does.

ALSO!

I HAVE PURPLE HAIR! Yeah, I got my hair dyed a few days ago. Not all of it, but a good three-quarters is now bright purple and curly. It's like, earlobe length when it's curled.  
Haha, I love it so much. Just thought you should know.

READ AND REVIEW, LOVES!

This is 26, signing off!


	20. Christmas at Lily's!

A few days after the attack, everybody was released from the Hospital Wing. Remus still had an occasional involuntary twitch when somebody mentioned Hogsmeade, but otherwise, everybody was fine. As Christmas and another match, which was to take place right before some people left for the holidays, were approaching very quickly, many people started to lose their attention for their studies- which proved to be very bad for the sixth years, where good marks were as important as ever.

Then, about two weeks before the match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, something happened that gave many people joy, and simply pissed the hell out of everybody else. The day started out normally enough. Lily woke up, looked in the mirror, found her hair a total mess, swore loudly and went to the bathroom to brush it out. Twenty minutes later, she came out with it in a bun and found her friends all getting ready for school and gossiping. May was a little quiet, but nobody really took any notice.

The girls made their way down to the Great Hall, talking excitedly. It was a Thursday, and when they looked at the ceiling, they saw it was a horribly dreary day. Lily groaned- she disliked Thursdays, especially Thursdays with depressing weather.

The Marauders entered the Great Hall about three minutes later, and they had the air of someone who was planning something. But the Marauders were always planning something, so nobody really paid attention. That was everybody's biggest mistake.

They all sat down at the emptier end of the Gryffindor table. The four of them promptly took out their wands and directed them at the ceiling, saying something that nobody understood. Slowly, everybody turned to stare at them. Somebody at the Slytherin table laughed.

Then, everything was covered in snow. People, the floor, the _food_- everything! Then, came a loud Christmas carol, that was heard about two years ago and that nobody has heard since. It sounded like it was radiating from the ceiling.

"_Oh, I saw Minnie kissing Dumbledore! Underneath the mistletoe last night...  
They didn't, hear me creep.  
To the kitchens cause I couldn't sleep!  
Oh, I saw Minnie tickling Dumbledore last night!  
They thought I was asleep,  
And I didn't make a peep, cause,  
Minnie snogged Dumbledore last NIGHT!"_

Almost everybody burst out laughing, though they were waist-deep in snow. Even Lily was laughing a little- for one, the irony of the fact that she spent 20 minutes making her hair look nice, and now it was covered in snow and was wet, and will go all frizzy when it dried, and two, the look on McGonagall's face was PRICELESS. What surprised her was that May wasn't laughing... she looked very angry, and a little unhappy. Also, Dumbledore was smiling slightly. With a wave of his wand, the singing stopped- he waved his wand again, presumably to get rid of the snow, but nothing happened. James thought that he saw Dumbledore _wink_ at him before the Headmaster said, "It appears we must wait for the snow to melt to regain our meals- go to your Common Rooms, until we are able to clean this mess up, and hopefully dry off to prevent any colds."

Everybody looked at eachother, and James and Sirius were the first out of the hall- they had a test in Potions the period after, and were glad for any excuse to miss it.

In the Common Room, the Marauders were congratulated over and over. Alice elbowed her way throw the crowd to say to James, "Even Lily laughed- good job." Alice then left as quickly as she had come, and James looked alot happier.

"I thought you were over Evans, Prongs!" Sirius muttered.

James' eyes widened. "I am, but you know- another happy customer."

"I can name somebody who didn't like it." growled a voice from behind them. James turned to see who it was, and was a little shocked to see May, who looked already like she had developped a cold. "Can I talk to Remus, please?" she asked, and Sirius reached into the crowd of people, and pulled Remus out of it.

"Your girlfriend wants to talk to you, Moony!" he squealed, and he shoved Remus and May away.

"Why'd you pull that prank?" May demanded.

"Trust me, that was the least dangerous of all the prank ideas they've had lately." Remus assured May, calmly.

May snorted. "You know I'm getting over a cold! I could get sick again!"

"May, we were only trying to get some people into the holiday spirit- I'm sorry!" Remus said, exasperated.

"Oh yeah? Well, when I'm in the Hospital Wing with pneumonia you'll be sorry..." May growled.

Remus leaned against a wall. "You won't get pneumonia, you're just overreacting."

"Overreacting, am I?" May demanded. "Well, I'm sorry, but you can't be too careful!"

"Relax-"

"I will NOT relax! I'm tired of you never thinking about the future!"

"Oh yeah, because giving you a promise ring was just impulse of the moment."

"Yeah, you trying to get into my pants!"

Remus looked down at May, very very hurt. "I thought you knew me better then that."

"Well, then maybe I don't."

"Then..." Remus took an intake of breath. "I guess we can't be together."

"What?" May asked.

Remus looked away. "The May I knew and loved would never accuse me of 'trying to get into her pants'. I'm sorry, May. It's over." he turned away, and left her there, so she wouldn't see her tears. Most people didn't notice Remus run up the Boy's Staircase or May running up the Girl's, but Lily did, and she suspected what happened. Grabbing April and Alice, who didn't notice and didn't want to leave the gathering that was forming, she struggled up the staircase. May was on her bed, staring at the canopy. Lily sat on May's bed and took her hand. "May, you okay?"

"Why wouldn't she be?" April asked.

"Remus broke up with me!" May wailed, and she rolled onto her stomach and started crying. Lily was still holding her hand and it was a little uncomfortable, so she let go.

"_What?_" Alice demanded, grabbing April's collar. "April, stay!" she exclaimed, and she sat April down and promptly sat on her lap to stop April from castrating Remus without anaesthetic.

"He said that I didn't know him well, and that I changed, and he dumped me!" May wailed into her pillow.

Lily got up, and she went over to Alice and April. "I'm going to talk to Remus."

"Why?" April asked, angrily.

"Because that doesn't sound like something he'd do for no reason."

"What if he lies to you?" Alice asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "He should know better then to lie to me."

She left the dorm, and about three seconds later, there was a nervous knock at the door. "Guys?" Annie said. "Lily has her murder-face on and she went up the Boy's Staircase."

"We know." April and Alice said together.

"So why are you letting her?" Annie asked.

"Remus dumped May and she's looking for answers."

"Oh." Annie said. "That sounds horrible."

"I'll say..." Alice said, and then she noticed something. Not haven spoken to Annie for a while, she didn't notice that her necklace was missing. "Where's her necklace?"

Annie shrugged. "Beats me. I think it broke and fell somewhere. Anyways, I'm going to go- I have to study for Arithmancy." she waved to them and walked down the stairs.

After Annie left, April and Alice began to cheer May up, when Lily stormed in. "You told him he was trying to get into your pants?" she asked, the minute she closed the door behind her.

"He said I was overreacting!"

April put an arm around her sister. "You do overreact, sometimes."

May pushed her sister away. "Shut up." she grumbled, and she walked into the bathroom. Lily and Alice waited, as April left the Common Room to find and tell June about the news. An hour later, when she returned (after checking on the Great Hall, and the teachers were still trying to find a way to make the snow melt- it had some sort of permanent cooling charm) to her room, she found Lily and Alice on Lily's bed, staring at May, who was rambling about something.

"How is she?" April asked in an undertone.

Lily shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Really, Lily-"

"Go talk to her. Seriously." Alice said firmly. April, a little creeped out, did so.

"How're you feeling, May?" April asked in a cheerful voice.

May looked up, oddly calm. "I'm fine. I've felt better then I have in ages. Free, I s'pose." she smiled at her sister in an odd way.

"Either she's actually over Remus after an hour and ten minutes, or she's gone nuts." April said, as May excused herself to go to the Library.

Lily laughed. "If it's the former, you've just lost your record for the fastest rebound ever."

* * *

The match approached rapidly. Soon, though Lily had no idea _why, _she, May and Alice were making their way down the frozen turf with the rest of the school. It was really flippin' cold. May and Remus had both gotten over their breakup resonably well- at least they could have a civil conversation without trying to curse each other into oblivion, which is alot better then either of May's sisters have done with their exes in the past.

"Why are you so over Remus, anyways?" Lily asked, as they walked onto the bleachers.

"Uhm, you'll never find the right person if you never let go of the wrong one!" May exclaimed, and then a girl tapped May on her shoulder. May turned around and reconized her as Ness, a fifth-year Ravenclaw.

"Did you break up with Remus?" she asked shyly. It was no secret that Ness had a crush on Remus.

May nodded. "Yep, he's on the market." she smiled brightly at Ness, who brightened up and her friend, Anna, who had a crush on Sirius, both started squealing. Why they were wearing Gryffindor colours, when Gryffindor was playing their house, Lily didn't quite understand, but she turned back around and looked out at the pitch. Remus' voice, even through the snow and the wind, rang out clearly through the pitch.

"HERE COMES THE TEAMS NOW! IN BLUE, THE RAVENCLAW TEAM! KEEPER, AND CAPTAIN, YELLOW DAVIS! CHASERS, SONDRA, TITCH, AND BELL! BEATERS, KIRBY AND KENNEDY! AND THEIR SEEKER, INSER!" Remus shouted. "AND ON THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM, IN RED, THERE IN THE SEEKER AND CAPTAIN, JAMES POTTER! CHASERS, MACULA, BAINES AND THATCH! BEATERS, HEART AND BLACK! AND THEIR KEEPER, ZELAN!"

The crowd cheered as the teams took their positions. "THE SNITCH IS RELEASED, AND THE GAME BEGINS! GRYFFINDOR IN POSSESION- BAINES TO THATCH, TO MACULA- THE QUAFFLE IS STOLEN BY SONDRA! SONDRA PASSES IT TO TITCH, WHO GETS HIT WITH A BLUDGER FIRED BY BLACK! GRYFFINDOR HAS THE QUAFFLE- THATCH TO BAINES, BAINES TO MACULA, MACULA BACK TO BAINES- BAINES SHOOTS... SHE SCORES!" Remus said, and he let out a little woop-woop. "GRYFFINDOR LEADS TEN TO ZERO. RAVENCLAW IN POSSESION... WAIT A SECOND- What's going on with Potter and Inser?" he asked. "THE SEEKERS ARE RACING OUT INTO THE GROUNDS. IT SEEMS THE SNITCH WE HAVE IS A TRICKY ONE! OH, AND RAVENCLAW LOSE THE QUAFFLE IN A MOMENT OF INACTIVITY- THATCH TO MACULA, WHO SHOOTS- SCORES!" The crowd went wild.

This happened for quite some time. Ravenclaw would have the Quaffle, something would happen, either it be Bludgers, the Snitch, or simply the cold, and then Gryffindor would have the Quaffle, be able to score since Ravenclaw was so distracted, they would get a point. Of course, the Ravenclaw team had scored a few points with this method too- but only like, two goals. At one point, somebody yelled that the Ravenclaw team should stop studying so hard and focus on the team! Eventually, the score ended up being 180-40.

"AND RAVENCLAW IN POSSESION... WHAT'S THIS?" Remus remarked. "INSER AND POTTER ARE RACING BACK INTO THE PITCH! TITCH PASSES THE QUAFFLE TO SONDRA, WHO PASSES IT TO BELL- WHO LOSES THE QUAFFLE! GRYFFINDOR IN POSSESION! BAINES, TO MACULA, TO THATCH, TO BAINES- SHOOTS- SCORES! THE SCORE IS 190 TO 40."

"GET THE SNITCH NOW, INSER, AND WE WON'T LOSE!" Yellow Davis shouted angrily at her teammate. However, she was too busy shouting that she didn't notice the Quaffle soaring past her and into another goal hoop- and then Inser grabbed the Snitch. The Pitch went silent. Sirius, who was mid-way in hitting a Bludger, dropped his bat. "We scored right before that, right?" Sirius asked April, who was below him. She nodded.

Then the Pitch went WILD. "GRYFFINDOR WIN, TWO-HUNDRED TO A HUNDRED AND NINTY!" Remus screamed, and he made his way down to the Pitch, where he was stopped on his way to the team by Ness, who promptly kissed him. Remus, shocked a little, but he honestly didn't care at the moment, kissed her back. Sirius kissed her friend, Anna, and higher above, Annie and Cameron kissed eachother, but Annie was careful not to hit her boyfriend with the bat.

James looked around. "Am I seriously the only person not getting their snog-on right now?" he asked Lily later in the Common Room. They still hated each other... sorta. But honestly, in a room full of lovey-dovey people, or just of people full of lust, as in the case of Sirius, who else to talk to but your worst enemy?

"There's always Pettigrew, Potter." Lily said, turning a page in Witch Weekly, which she had found on the sofa she was currently lying on.

"Wormtail doesn't count."

"Do I look like I'm snogging somebody?" Lily asked.

James looked at Lily. "Good point. Say, Evans-"

"NO POTTER I WILL NOT MAKE OUT WITH YOU." Lily exclaimed, and James laughed.

"I was going to offer you a Butterbeer."

"W-well, I won't make out with your Butterbeer either!" (A/N: Another QC reference... Heh heh. I really do love that webcomic)

* * *

"Welcome home, honey!" Ellie Evans exclaimed, when Lily walked into her house. Her dad was getting her bags from the trunk. "Anything happen at school?" she asked, ignoring Steve struggling with Lily's trunk.

Lily thought of many things- she hadn't told her parents about the attack, Dumbledore had done that and only certain things- NOTHING about Voldemort's offer to Lily or James. She thought of Remus and May breaking up, and then how both of them had moved on, Remus with a one-night snog, having been ditched by Ness because she felt bad for taking advantage of him. She thought of her embarrassing social faux-pas with James, and how defensive she got, and how she felt weird for hating him after he saved her life- but she still was angry about him pranking Snape for no reason.

"Nothing important." Lily said, shrugging away her doubts, and her mother smiled. Little did she know, that away at the Potter Manor, in a game of Wizard's Chess with Sirius, James was shrugging away the exact same feelings.

* * *

Lily woke up on Christmas morning rather late- it was eight AM, three hours later then she had woken up the previous year. She had been woken up by three owls pecking at her window, so she got up and let them in. Oddly enough, Artemis was there, only with a card. Reginald and Flower were also there, and they both carried large packages. She relieved them all of their burdens and they flew off. Lily sat on her bed and opened the letter from Alice.

**Hey Lilykinsy!**

**Heehee, I called you that last Christmas too! So how is everything at the Evans household? I got your letter- so Petunia isn't relenting on salmon and white? Poor baby. At least you're being a loyal sister, unlike her! Oh well, lead by example, right? **

**About your present, I was in Diagon Alley in a panic because there was no ball, so no gown to give you, and a book would be soooo cliche, besides, imagine if you only got books for Christmas! I know I would stage a coop! So here I am, breaking the monotomy, and wishing you a very happy Christmas!**

**LOL, (lots of love, remember last year?)  
Alice!**

**Ps. I got Frank a book on Herbology- Just proof that I am NOT book-ist.**

Lily laughed and she put down the short letter. Opening the rather small box, she saw a beautiful necklace. At the end was a locket- she opened it, and there were five panels instead of the usual two, and there was a panel for April, one for May, one for June, one for Alice, and one for Lily herself. The pictures were already inside and they seemed rather recent, and for once, the picture Lily looked like she had her think hair under control. Lily closed the locket again and saw, on the front, it said, _Not even death can break apart these bonds of friendship_. Lily felt a shiver, but she had a feeling that Alice had gotten it engraved because of the experiance in Hogsmeade. She also had a feeling that every person who had a picture in that locket had gotten a locket of their own, from Alice.

Lily put the locket on, and turned to the letter from the triplets. She picked it up and started to read.

_Hey Lily!_

_As a response to your letter, we are doing very fine. Sucks that you have to wear salmon to Petunia's wedding, though. She's such a bitch... Anyways! I met a cute boy in Diagon Alley when we were shopping for your present- let's just say I have a New Year's date! Hooray!  
I love you very much, and I hope to hear from you very soon!  
Happy Christmas~  
April._

_**Lilyyy!**_

**_It's felt like ages since we've spoken, but we spent the entire train ride talking, didn't we? It's a little hard being friends with people in a different house, let alone best friends, but us five, we're pretty damn good at it. And the boy that April met in Diagon Alley is actually pretty cute- June Zelan have the same taste in guys as April? Hark the thought!  
Aside all the thought-harking, I wish you a happy Christmas!  
June._**

**Hey Lily!**

**I'm fine and happy, don't you worry. I think I wasn't myself when I was with Remus, and now I get to be myself again. Good luck dealing with Petunia- I know she might get on your nerves sometimes, but deep down, she loves you... REALLY deep down. And at least you don't have April as a sister.****  
Anyways, I can't wait to see you in January- Happy Christmas!  
May.**

Lily felt herself smiling. Just like April to get herself a date in Diagon Alley with a boy she barely knew. Good thing she had May and June to rationalize her a little or April might be even more permiscuous then she was now. She opened the gift and immediately started laughing. It was a thick book, titled, _300 Ways for Witches to Win Wizards: from Attitude to Zeal Appeal!_ She didn't know how much persuasion that April needed to use to let June and May send this as gift, but she glad she did- it made Lily laugh.

Then she turned to the letter from Artemis. She reconized the writting on the front as Annie's.

_**Dear Lily,**_

**_I guess I should start off by wishing you a Happy Christmas! It's a weird expression, right? In alot of countries, they say Merry Christmas instead. Okay, so I'm getting off topic. _**

**_I don't know what happened to you and James before we left at the beginning of break, but it's really affected him somehow. He's got these crazy mood-swings- one second he'll be joking around with Sirius or flirting with Muggle girls in the town, and the next, he's calm and calculating all this stuff!_**

**_I know you still hate him but can you please try to talk to him? I'm worried about him, really badly. If you don't want to, that's okay! I guess... Whenever you're comfortable. If you're never comfortable, well, that's okay! This is getting to sound pretty pathetic, now... Oh Merlin... _**

**_I know it's none of my buisness, but I'm thirteen years old and I think I'm old enough to start helping people._**

**_Ah, this is such a downer..._**

**_Okay, total subject change!_**

**_Sirius charmed James' hair pink the other day. He got a warning from the Ministry of Magic (his second, apparantly) but it's rather hilarious, and he says it was worth it. I got a picture, if you wanted a laugh. We still haven't figured out how to get it back to black... so expect to see a pink-haired arse on the platform! _**

**_Happy Christmas, and sorry for bugging you.  
Annie Heart._**

Lily crossed her legs. Annie had a valid argument... but then again, she was looking out for James. She would probably write to Voldemort (who was James' number one enemy, Lily supposed that she was his number two) if she thought it was any good.

But she smiled when she read the part about James' hair. She looked in the enveloppe and there was a picture, a moving picture. James was staring at his reflection in a mirror, and his hair was neon hot-pink, while Sirius rolled on the floor behind him laughing his ass off.

Lily put the picture down and smiled. Then she got up, and left her room to spend Christmas with her family. The Wizarding world could wait, Voldemort could wait for a day- she went to spend time with her loving- yet crazy- family.

* * *

This chapter is kinda short. Oh well, you all can deal with it! :D Oh, and PintoNess and candylandfantasyXxXx...x? (I'm lazy. xD) congrats for getting the answer to the question!  
It was KENNY SONDRA, and we will learn more of his devious acts in the next chapter, as well as Snape's intentions...

Review time!

candylandfantasyXxXxXx: Your username is long. Just pointing that out. ANYways, it's nice to hear of a fellow partial hair dyer. :D And you, my little reader (I only say little because it sounds better that way... 'you, my enormously tall reader' sounds weird) rock MY knee-high RAINBOW-NEON socks off! I will keep writing. :D

PintoNess: YES, IT'S KENNY! :D YOU WIN A MENTION AND A COOKIE! A soul cookie, anyways. It's the fuzzy feeling you get when you realise you made a difference- LIKE WHEN YOU HELPED ME NOT LOOK TOO MUCH LIKE A FOOL! Hooray! I think I fixed all of it... took a while, but I think I did! Well, you were ressourceful that way. xD

I love you all! (In the not-creepy way)

READ AND REVIEW, LOVES! (Thought: Shouldn't I put that at the beginning, so you all would read it? Like what else, besides 'This is 26, signing off' and these sentences is there to read? Oh well)

This is 26, signing off!


	21. Shocking Revelations

After the Holidays, things went slowly back to normal- at least Annie was spared of James and Sirius for most of the time, and Lily wasn't forced into a halter dress that was indeed the colour of salmon, and it indeed clashed with her hair. She knew that she would have to wear it at thewedding in a few weeks, but she didn't care. She often spoke of BURNING the dress. But something happened that made her want to burn James- and not in the kinky way, if there is one.

Simply enough- James and his friends had put a Trip Jinx on an entire corridor that was supposed to go off at regular intervals- mainly, when Lily had to use that corridor to get to classes. So during these intervals, suddenly, all the people in the corridor would trip and fall.

"Did you see her face when it went off?" Sirius asked Remus, for lack of people to ask. Sirius had already asked James, Peter, April (who had and actually laughed), June (who threatened to curse him into oblivion if he didn't stop harassing her Hufflepuff friends), Filch (when he and Peter got caught, as an attempt to calm him down) and Owen (who was very confused why Sirius was cleaning out all the bedpans in the Hospital Wing when he went there for a burn he got in one of his classes).

"Yes, Padfoot, I saw it, _RIGHT BEFORE I WENT CRASHING INTO THE FLOOR!_" Remus said, very annoyed. Ink had gone all over his Transfiguration essay. He was REALLY annoyed.

"Calm down, Moony!" Sirius exclaimed, shocked. "It must be because of his furry little problem, Prongs," he added to James. They were around a table in the Common Room.

Annie, who was walking by, stopped. "Furry little problem? Does Remus have an ill-tempered rabbit or something?" she asked, leaning over the table.

"No, he's-" Sirius started, but he stopped since Remus just kicked him in the gonads under the table. "That's precisely what he has!" Sirius lied, a fake smile on his face and he was wincing slightly.

"Oh... Kay..." she said slowly, a little shocked by Sirius' wincing. "You okay? Peter, did you practice Cheering Charms on him again?"

"Not at all." Peter said, shaking his head.

"Great, because last time was scary. So what are you guys working on? Studying?" Annie pulled up a chair and sat down, and Sirius smirked. Cameron was looking a little disgruntled with his friends, since Annie had not gone and been his second half.

Remus scoffed. "These guys? Studying? Hark the thought of it..."

"We're working on a prank idea for old Snivelly..." Sirius muttered.

"And what's that?"

James looked at Sirius. "Padfoot, would you like to announce it?"

"Prongs m'boy, you can have this one." Sirius replied.

James smiled. "We will make Snivellus tell the truth!" Peter burst into applause, and Sirius took a bow.

Annie stared. "Okay... I'm not getting why force-feeding him Veritaserum is such a hilarious prank."

"No, we're going to cast a spell on him that will make him tell the truth whatever he's asked!" Sirius said, and he started to giggled. Annie continued to stare.

"Elaborate."

"We're going to ask him A LOT of questions- hehe- and Prongs is going to cast a Sonorus charm whenever we have a really embarrassing one, and he'll be humiliated!" Sirius finished.

Annie bit on her lip. Not that she particularly liked Snape- he was a Dark-Arts loving fool and he had injured James, but on the other hand, that was retaliation. Now that she was a little older, she knew the difference between a harmless prank and bullying. "Count me out for the co-creator credit on this one, guys," she patted Sirius on the arm and walked to her dorm room.

"That was weird." Peter remarked.

"Well, at least Macula can't snog her senseless now," Sirius muttered.

"I thought you liked Cameron, Padfoot!" James exclaimed.

Sirius looked at James. "Not when he is SNOGGING her."

"Then be glad you weren't on patrol with me last night." Remus muttered, and he got up.

"Wait, why?" Peter asked, and Remus gave him a look. "You caught them snogging in a closet, didn't you?" Remus nodded.

Sirius got up and Remus forced him back down. "You had your first snog in first _year_. She's in her _third_."

"Yeah, but she's not me!" Sirius protested, as April and Lily were walking by.

April snorted. "Heaven forbid."

* * *

The next morning, the plan went off without a hitch. "Ew, look at Snivelly." Sirius said loudly as their target walked out of the great hall. "OI! Snivellus! Did you wash your hair this morning or did you put SPAM on it?"

"I only wash my hair once a week!" Snape said loudly, and alot of people started laughing.

"Now now, don't you know proper hygeine is key to a healthy life?" Sirius asked.

"I don't care about having a healthy life because I want to do better then Potter!" Snape blurted out. He then ran out of the Great Hall, and ended up punching a wall outside. Sirius paused and looked around, wanting somebody to follow along with his plan. Most people were laughing. However, Annie looked quite miserable. "Annie!" he hissed. She turned to look at him. "Shape-change to look like one of his friends and follow him!"

Annie stared. "Are you mad?"

"C'mon, it'll be funny! He's always trying to poke about our buisness, now let's poke about his!" Sirius whispered.

"_Our_ buisness? Snape has nothing to do with me. He's never spoken to me, and he's merely glared at me occaisonally over the years. Do it yourself, Sirius." Annie got up and walked out of the hall. Sirius got up and ran after her, because he knew something was wrong with her. He seemed to have taken a wrong turn, however, for he overheard very angry mumbling.

"Haha, Potter and Black are _soooooo_ funny!" Snape grumbled, walking down a hall. "Jinxing a bloke so he tells the truth... ha-flippin-ha. There's something mentally wrong with all of them, and I know there's something wrong with Lupin. Why does he go off every month? And how come the _Marauders_-" he spat after saying that last word. "- are always injured when he comes back? They're up to something... if only I could just find out _what_..."

Sirius leaned against a wall, and he got an idea to make sure that would ensure that Snape would never poke his obscenely large nose into anybody else's buisness ever again. He got out a quill and a piece of parchment...

_Should you ever feel the urge to find out where Remus Lupin goes to every month,  
Go to the Whomping Willow tomorrow at 8 o'clock.  
Freeze the tree by hitting a knot with a stick._

Sirius looked back to admire his handy-work. He made a paper-airplane out of it and threw in it Snape's direction. A few moments later, he heard a whoop-whoop of joy that freaked Sirius out to the extreme.

* * *

Sirius was so excited about his plan he completely forgot about asking Snape any more questions. He decided to tell nobody about his plans, so they could congratulate him on them later. Tomorrow came very quickly and early in the day Remus went to the Hospital Wing so he could relax a bit, since lately the transformations were taking a serious toll on him. Sirius sat at a table in the Common Room later in the evening, daydreaming.

"Sirius?" he heard a voice say. "SIRIUS!" Sirius jerked up and saw Annie looking at him. "Are you alright?" she asked. "You haven't snuck off to broom closets in the past two days. Have you decided to save whatever you have left for marriage or something?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, I'm pretty okay. What about you? You're all quiet... ish."

Annie leaned back in her chair. "I don't know. I guess I'm growing up."

"Don't grow up too fast, Anne." Sirius said quickly, then he smiled. "I'm going to miss joking around with you."

Annie smiled at Sirius. "I'll always be a kid at heart, Sirius."

"Good- I don't want an annoying worm for a little sister." Sirius replied, and Annie looked at Sirius with an odd look.

"I wouldn't want to be annoying for my big brother- he's annoying enough." Annie countered, and she smiled again.

"Touche."

Annie laughed. "I better go. I've got an essay to write. See you later, Sirius." she got up and patted Sirius' shoulder before walking off. Sirius was left to ponder how much she was changed by living with him and James, and if she was going back to herself. After about half an hour, James walked into the Common Room. "Look, Evans, I have no idea why Snivelly would run out of the castle at this time," he was saying, and sure enough, Lily was behind him, looking angry.

"Are you sure you didn't do anything, Potter?" she asked.

"I give you my word as a Marauder that I did not lay a wand, a finger, or harmed a greasy hair on Snivelly's hair recently."

"That's not really alot, but fine. Whatever." Lily said, rolling her eyes, and she went upstairs. James walked over to Sirius. "That was bizarre." he remarked.

"What is?" Sirius asked, trying to ask like he had no idea what was going on.

"According to Evans, Snape just booked it outside for some reason..." James checked his watch. "Hey, it's a little after eight, we should find Peter and head down there. But what is Snape doing outside at this time?" he went back to the original subject, really confused.

"I dun' know." Sirius lied quietly, and winced, because James always knew when he was lying.

"God damn it Padfoot, what the hell did you do?" James asked.

Sirius coughed. "Nothing."

"SIRIUS." James said loudly, banging a fist on the table.

Sirius quietly told James his plan, and he knew that he had done a very bad thing. James got up, his face pale. "Oh shit..." he whispered.

"It was so he'd stop messing around in our buisness!"

"And you told him that he'd find Moony, and now he'll find-" James lowered his voice. "He'll find a full-grown werewolf! You're not only endangering Snape's life, but Moony's secret. I gotta go."

"I'll help!" Sirius jumped up, but James shook his head. "You've helped enough" he said, before running out of the Common Room. He saw Peter, who was very confused, about halfway, but he shouted at Peter to go talk to Sirius so Sirius wouldn't drown himself in Firewhisky out of guilt. James ran onto the grounds, and ducked to avoid being knocked down by the Whomping Willow- he saw Snape's cloak just whipping around the opening. If only he could get there in time... James dived and slid across the muddy ground, and was whipped by a branch, but he kept on going.

"SNAPE! GET OUT OF THERE!" James yelled, but either Snape didn't hear or he ignored him. He reached the opening and ran inside, his head hitting the top of the tunnel. Then he heard the growl, and a howl. It seemed Remus had transformed into Moony. James ran right into Snape, who was frozen in fear. Moony turned and saw them- Snape yelled. James grabbed Snape's collar and the back of his robes and half-dragged him out of the tunnel. "_Impendimenta!_" James shouted, aiming the spell at Moony, who froze, and James used that precious few moments to get Snape out of the tunnel. Snape was frozen on the ground, and James looked back inside. It seemed Moony was now in his solitude, and ignoring the fact that two people were in the tunnel a few minutes before- James prayed that it was him, Sirius and Peter helping him through most of his phases that rendered him more tame.

"Lupin is a werewolf?" Snape choked out. James was still having heart palipitations and chose not to answer.

"Lupin is a werewolf!" Snape exclaimed a few minutes after. "Oh, wait until Dumbledore finds out! You'll be in trouble, big time! Harbouring a werewolf..." Snape smirked.

"There is no need, Severus. I already am aware of Remus' affliction," a voice behind them said.

Dumbledore seemed to have a thing for sneaking up on people.

* * *

Dumbledore escorted the two to his office. "It is fortunate I heard of what happened, or perhaps you two may have done something extreme."

"From who, sir?" James asked.

Dumbledore opened the door. "From the culprit," he replied. He led the boys inside and gestured they should sit in two of the three chairs that were now in front of his desk. The third chair was occupied by Sirius, who's eyes were red-rimmed as if he had either been pepper-sprayed or that he had been crying. "Now, Severus, I must ask something great from you."

Snape was still mouthing 'Lupin is a werewolf' but he looked at the Headmaster.

"Tell nobody of what you saw. Remus already suffers enough without gossip stabbing at him wherever he goes."

"But... But!" Snape spluttered. "Black tried to kill me!" he pointed at Sirius, who glared.

"It's rude to point." Sirius said in a low voice.

"So it's not rude to try and use your friend to get back at someone?" James asked loudly.

"I didn't mean for him to get injured!"

"And he did NOT!" Dumbledore shouted over them. "Sirius has already opened up about his mistake, and is accepting his punishment without dispute. What's done has, regretably, been done. I suggest you all go to your Common Rooms."

"What about Potter, sir?" Snape demanded. "Potter knew!"

Dumbledore looked at Snape, and it looked like he smiled slightly. "Sirius has already told me that James was not aware of what he had done, and that he had left the Common Room to help you the moment he found out. And I have been told this is true by witnessess, who were confused by James' erratic behavior. Now off to your Common Rooms, all of you!"

Snape left immediately, running out of the room. When Sirius got up, he walked out sadly, and he rubbed his arm. He seemed to be on the verge of tears again. "Sir-" James said, looking at Dumbledore. "What is Sirius' punishment?" he asked.

"I do not feel that I should be the one to tell you, James." Dumbledore replied. "But do not be too harsh on Sirius, though he acted irrationally. He has made up for that by telling me of what he has done. He even suggested his own punishment- but I felt expulsion was too hard on him, after he had come to me before I even heard of anything happening."

"He wanted to be expelled?" James asked, gaping.

"Go to your House, James!" Dumbledore exclaimed, though he chuckled, James took that as a queue to leave. He ran down the spiral staircase and caught up to Sirius.

"What's your punishment, Padfoot?" James asked. Sirius shook his head.

"I'm going to kill myself," he said sorrowly. "Moony is going to murder me anyways and you hate me."

James shook his head. "I don't hate you- I was a little angry, but it's fine. What's your punishment?"

"I'm banned from Hogsmeade for the rest of the year."

"That's not too bad-"

"And from the Quidditch team. And I have to write an apology to Snape. _And," _Sirius sighed. "I have to clean out all the dungeons on every weekend from ten a.m. until five in the evening until they're spotless. Oh, and I can't have chocolate gateau at dinner."

"You can't play Quidditch?" James asked.

"I can't go near the Pitch until next year."

"So we need another Beater..." James pondered.

Sirius shook his head. "Look, just wing it!"

"With one Beater."

Sirius shrugged. "She's pretty good, besides, do you really want to train somebody for one more game, two if we get to the finals?" Sirius asked.

James felt himself smile a little. "Not really."

"Exactly. Now let's go celebrate the fact that I'm not dead before Moony murders me tomorrow."

* * *

"_You did WHAT?_" Remus yelled at Sirius, in their dorm room. "I can't believe you, Sirius! I trusted you!"

"I know you did!" Sirius exclaimed. "I thought I was doing good!"

"You're such an asshole!" Remus shouted. "I might actually hate you!"

"Stop repeating things I already know!" Sirius yelled back. "If I were you I would hate me! Hell, I already hate me!"

There was a knock at the door. "WHAT!" Sirius and Remus yelled at the door. Peter and James, who were on their beds watching the argument, turned.

Annie opened the door and poked her head in. "Is everything okay in here?" she asked, looking very worried. "There's a rumor going around that you guys got attacked by a werewolf."

"That rumor's bullshit!" Sirius exclaimed, and Annie was about to leave (since she was slightly freaked out) when Sirius said, "Come in and shut the door dammit!" Annie did so, not at all comforted.

"I still can't believe you, Sirius!" Remus said, and he sat down on his bed. "Did I bite him?"

Annie was at a loss. "Who would you bite?" she asked, thinking it was something kinky. Nobody listened.

"Of course not!"

"Did I attack you guys?"

"Not at all!"

Annie got up. "HOLD. THE FUCK. UP." she exclaimed. "Sirius, sit." she said fiercely. "For the past three years I've been dealing with rumors and gossip about what's been going on with you guys! Either you guys tell me, or I'm going to leave and act like I heard absolutely nothing because this is really confusing!"

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but then again, Remus probably didn't want her to know. After all, it was bros before hoes. "Can't tell you, sorry. Not today."

Annie threw her hands in the air. "Then keep it down, or somebody else might run up. Later, guys." she said with a sad smile, and she left.

"She is very confusing," Sirius remarked. "Her mood swings are off the chart." Then, he noticed Remus staring at him.

"You... you didn't tell her?" Remus asked after a few minutes.

"I figured you wouldn't want me to..." Sirius said slowly.

Remus looked at his friend. "You've grown up from this, Sirius Black."

Sirius looked more confused then Annie did four minutes ago when she heard about the biting.

"I'm still mad at you. Madder then a Hippogriff who just had to spend an hour with a Slytherin. Madder then Lily on many occasions when Prongs tried talking to her. Madder the-"

"I get the point, Moony." Sirius growled. "But I wouldn't expect any less from you."

James got up. "So there _won't_ be any Padfoot-Killings tonight?"

"Not unless he does something else to piss me off." Remus replied, but he already knew he couldn't stay mad at Sirius for long. Shortly before Remus went to find Sirius to talk to him, Peter had told him what had happened, as well as Sirius' suggestion that he should be expelled. Remus knew that Sirius felt horrible, and Remus was very forgiving.

Sirius got up and opened his arms. "C'mon, Moony."

Remus was shook out of his thoughts. "What?"

"I'm going to give you a hug. According to Anne, they are good for your soul. Now come here." Sirius said, and he opened his arms wider.

"I said that I'm still mad at you- STOPPIT!" Remus said, because Sirius just tackle-hugged him and was holding onto him tightly. "THIS IS RAPE. PURE RAPE. RAAAAAAPE!" Remus exclaimed.

James nudged Peter. "They seem to be back to normal."

"Stand still and enjoy the fucking hug!" Sirius growled. There was a pause, and then Remus hugged Sirius back. Then he kicked Sirius away.

Remus grinned to James' and Peter's expressions of questioning. "Long live the fucking brotherhood, remember?"

* * *

Easter Holidays came and went- Lily did go to her sister's wedding, in the horrible halter dress that made her look horrible. Then, when she heard that James had nothing to do with Snape running around like a loon, she felt a little bad. Not bad enough to actually talk to him or anything, though. But what made everything worse, what made everything MORE horrible was the rumor that went around at the very end of school. That James had saved Snape's life from a vicious ghost that lived in the Shrieking Shack, but Lily knew from fourth-year that Remus was a werewolf, and then she realized that James must have actually gone to save Snape from a werewolf.

And that didn't help her annoying mixed feelings. But for the remaining part of the term, she kept them under control- which was saying something. But a few things happened during that time that really didn't help. For starters, she overheard James and Sirius apologizing to Snape in an empty corridor- and they didn't prank him after, they just walked away. Then, when Cameron broke up with Annie on account of her not being 'attatched enough' or some issue like that, James didn't pound the stuffing out of him. _Then_, when Gryffindor lost the finals for the Cup, he was mature about it, and he shook the hand of the Hufflepuff captain like a sensible person, and he still partied later for everybody doing a "job well done" as he had said.

Then, as it must have, the end of term came. Lily found herself on the train with her four best friends- as usual, they were talking and laughing. "So Remus and Lily are both STARING at me and Quincy, because I was just taking off my shirt when they burst in (thank god I wore a bra that day, or I would of flashed my sister's ex) and Quincy goes, 'Look, we can't get in more trouble they we are already in, so can you just close the cloest door and let us finish?'" June exclaimed, and the compartment was full of laughter.

"Lily, did you really let her bang in a broom closet?" April asked, who was near tears.

"Yep!" Lily said, and she laughed. "The boy had nerve and he was right- so I just slammed the door shut and Remus and I ran to the nearest bathrooms to wash out eyes out." More laughter rang out at this. "I'll be back in a bit, guys, I have to use the loo." Lily added, and her friends lamented into more laughter as Lily left at something April was telling. She walked down the hall, looking for the girl's loo, and praying that the train actually had one. The door of the compartment behind her slid open and banged shut, and James walked out, looking a little flustered, not noticing Lily until he had knocked her over.

"Oh geez, Evans, I'm sorry." James said, and he offered Lily a hand, which she actually took, and he pulled her up. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments. "Enjoying the train ride?" James asked.

Lily grinned. "Well, June just told us a story that I had a sad part in-"

"Where she was banging Quincy in a broom closet?" James asked, and they laughed. Then, for a few seconds when the laughter disapated, their eyes met. Lily bit her lip. In James' dark brown eyes, it was like they were ready to show her everything about the boy they belonged to. Lily could see in those eyes James' sweetness that lay close to his bones, and care-free nature that he used to cover it up.

For James, it was like meeting Lily all over again. He saw her kindness, her temper, her loyalty to her friends. He flushed. "I- I guess I'll see you in the su- later, L- Evans," he stuttered out.

Lily blushed as well. "I guess s-so, Jam- Potter. B-Bye!" Lily choked out, and she did the thing with James where you try to get around the other person in the hallway, but they go the same way you do, so it's a little awkward. James grabbed Lily's side and turned her around.

"Bye," James said, and he watched her walk away with a weird smily feeling in his stomach. He had completely forgot about the girl he had been snogging in the compartment that he had just come out of. He walked down the hall, whistling, and ended up doing a choreographed dance routine with innocent passers-by.

Lily sat back down in her compartment with her friends, and she was looking out the window, shocked about what had just happened. And she had completely forgot to go to the washroom. _God damn it, James Potter. I'm supposed to hate you. Stop being so nice and sweet and kind and loyal, and let me hate you in peace! _

Lily had sat there, thinking, for quite some time. Eventually, like it always has to, the train pulled into the station and Lily and her friends got off the train and stepped onto the platform. Lily looked around for her family, and she caught James' eye. It was almost as if she had got an answer when he smiled a little at her...

_No. _

* * *

AWWWW. Is it possible that Lily is realizing that she doesn't actually hate James, and that they merely got off on the wrong foot? PERHAPS. xD I'm so devishly evil!

Yes, I didn't put in anything about Kenny, and there isn't a Valentine's day mention, but seriously? Do you need to guess? I'll put some Kenny drama in later, and V-Day is always the same!

Review time! :D

chocopaisly61: I've got charm like that. xD Oh, yeah, the Voldy thing was dramatic. I wanted to make him sound queer, but we are trying to be serious here! Yeah, there's alot of unspoken things going around lately. Hoorah for BEING AT SEVENTH YEAR NOW THOUGH!

junebugbug96: That's alrightt! Hotels often have crappy internet. I loved the James and Lily thing- so I think year seven is going to be very, very fun. Also, Sirius and Annie will have alot of these sorts of fights throughout the story, and they will always make up with these little understandings. Next one is schedualed to be... Hm. Don't know yet. xD And what kind of school do you go to? At my school, a girl sometimes wears a friggin TEACUP on a headband. As to your next point, can't answer that, because it'd be a SPOILER. AND I AM UPDATINGGG! (That doesn't work as well as Evershorts "More" thing, does it?)

Also, I woke up this morning thinking my house was being broken into. Fun times. After going to sleep at one in the morning, and waking up to a friggin alarm going off, I'm not in the best of moods today. OH WELL. :D

READ AND REVIEW, LOVES!

Side note: Who actually wants Sirius and Annie to be together? I'm curious.

This is 26, signing off.

PS: I need a new catchphrase at the end of each update. Ideas?


	22. May took the COOKIES from the COOKIE JAR

A/N: It's been a while since I did a before-chapter note, eh? Well, here is a disclaimer:  
I AM NOT JOANNE ROWLING. I OWN NOTHING. EXCEPT OWEN. I love Owen. Heehee.

Just saying, since I forgot to say it in the last chapter, that PintoNess helped me out with the last chapter a few times. I will repeat this a few times without the chapter to make up for my forgetful-ness, so forgive me. ONWARDS WITH THE FAMILY!Also, I meant to add onto the last chapter, but this popped into my head: IT'S THE 21ST CHAPTER AND THE 21ST CENTURY! OMIGOSH! Yeah, I'm weird. But now it's the 22nd chapter so it doesn't really work... oh well. NOW, _ONWARDS WITH THE FAMILY!_

* * *

James ran downstairs at a fast pace- oh, glorious summer! It was near the end of July and Sirius was currently yelling up the stairs for James and Annie to 'get a move on before I 'sic Prince and ACDC on your souls'. Now, as you know, Prince, and ADCD were Annie's cats. Queen had passed away during the Christmas holidays.

"Did our Hogwarts letters come?" James asked, jumping the last four stairs and landing heavily at the bottom.

"Yep-" Sirius said, but he held James' away from him. "Hey- Not until Anne comes. ANNE!" he shouted. Sirius, and ONLY Sirius, was allowed to call Annie by her birth name.

"CALM THE FUCK DOWN!" Annie yelled down the stairs. "I'M COMING!"

James sniggered. "That's what she said- oof!" Sirius had just elbowed him in the stomach, lest Annie hear him. She came downstairs, still her in pajamas, and she didn't really care. She was now 14, and had a right to wear pajamas when she wanted.

"Nice clothes." James remarked, and Annie looked down at herself. Grey short-shorts, a bright yellow tank top, and knee-high socks. Why she slept in socks, well, noone knows. She rolled her eyes and punched James on the shoulder.

"Shut up." Annie said, and she held out her hand to Sirius, "Letter. Now."

Knowing that it was best to oblidge Annie when she was tired, short-tempered, and made fun of because of her preference in socks, Sirius handed over her letter. She sat down to open it.

"Sirius- GIMME MY LETTER NOW!" James said, and Sirius threw his letter at him. Then Sirius went to opening his own.

"Who do you reckon would get Head Boy?" Sirius asked the general audience.

"Amos Diggory or Remus." Annie mumbled, reading her required books. "Geezus, Runes needs alot of books..." she said to herself.

James stopped opening his letter and looked at Annie. "Why so?"

Annie put down her letter. "Well, Amos is by far one of the best looking guys in school. He may not get good grades, but most of the teachers think that he is some sort of angel. Remus, it's a no-brainer. He's probably one of the smartest seventh years in the school, and he does try to calm you guys down from time to time. Not to mention all the teachers love him."

"Well, teachers love me!" Sirius exclaimed. "I get good grades and I'm good looking!"

"You made the Great Hall a snowy wonderland for three hours and your invented Christmas carol nearly harrased McGonagall." Annie pointed out. "I love you Sirius, but you're sometimes a big pain in the ass."

Sirius looked around. "Well- what about Prongs?" he asked, and then he and Annie looked at James and back at each other. Then they promptly burst out laughing.

James looked at his best friend and his foster sister. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

That only made Annie and Sirius laugh more. "Sorry James, but-" Annie said before giggling again. "You? Head Boy?"

"I've been better lately!" James exclaimed.

Annie looked at him. "Like snogging Rina Patrige on the train on the way back and being a gentleman to Lily- who you convieniently knocked over- and then DITCHING Rina Patrige? You're almost as bad as Sirius!"

"That means I'm better, right?" Sirius whispered, and Annie shook her head. Sirius rang the sentence a few times in his head. "Oh- that was a weak insult?"

"It was a cleverly disguised insult to James." Annie said, and she rolled her eyes. "But really- can you imagine James as Head Boy?"

"Not really." Sirius said, shaking his head. "Hey!" Sirius said, and he reached inside his letter and pulled out a badge. "I'm Quidditch Captain!"

James was about to laugh when he saw the badge and realized that indeed, somebody had lost their marbles and given Sirius some sort of position with power. "Congrats, Padfoot..." he said in a weak voice, wondering why he wasn't Captain like last year.

Apparantly, Annie was thinking the same thing. "If you're Quidditch Captain, Sirius, then what is James?" she asked, and the she looked at the envelope that was half-opened. Sirius stared at James.

"No way," he whispered.

James looked at Annie and Sirius. "What?"

"Prongs, open your envelope!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Why?" James asked.

"Because you should!" Sirius exclaimed. Annie seemed to be in a bit of shock.

Thinking that the two were absolutely mad, James proceded to open his envelope. He saw something- he reached in

* * *

PINTONESS HELPED ME WITH THE LAST CHAPTER KTHXBAI

* * *

and pulled out a badge, with the golden initials: _HB_.

That's when the room went mad. James started screaming with shock, Sirius started to do a creepy-dance-thing and Annie started to jump up and down yelling about how Dumbledore must have gone mad. Her hair turned to a brilliant, platinum blonde, just for James, since he always said she'd look better as a blonde- and Annie always said that she'd go blonde if he became Head Boy.

"I'M HEAD BOY!" James yelled.

"PRONGS IS HEAD BOY!" Sirius screamed, and Beth walked in, hands on her hips.

"What is going on in here? It's like a madhouse!" she asked.

James held out his badge. "I'M HEAD BOY!"

"PRONGS IS HEAD BOY!" Sirius screamed again, and Beth started laughing.

James stopped yelling. "That's not really the reaction I expected," he said, pretending to be pouty. Beth pulled her son into a rib-crushing hug.

"I never thought you'd get Head Boy, Jamie! I'm so proud of my little boy!" she squealed.

"_Jamie?" _Sirius asked, and he almost laughed.

"Wait until your father gets home! He'll be so proud too! Oh, I'm so proud of my baby!" Beth continued to hug the hell out of her son, and James was almost red with embarrassment. "I'll have the House-Elves make all your favorite foods- oh, my son is Head Boy! I can't wait to tell the girls! My heart's all aflutter!" Beth finally let her son go and pranced into another room.

Annie grinned. "So, _Jamie_, how much did you pay Dumbledore to make you Head Boy? Or was it the Imperius Curse? Or maybe a Confundus Charm?"

"Shut up. And I did neither, for your information." James grumbled. He liked _Jamie_ as a nickname as much as Sirius loved his family.

"I wonder who's Head Girl," Sirius said rather randomly. "Maybe May? Or Emmeline Vance- that Ravenclaw- she's pretty smart- or Mary MacDonald..."

James sat down. "I don't think May would've got it, she hates being out in public with responsibilities, ever since.. Well, since the Christmas prank. And Mary MacDonald is such a gossip, I doubt that she would get the position. But Emmeline Vance is a possibilty, she's probably one of the few girls who aren't in any fan clubs."

Annie sat down as well, thinking. "I think you guys are wrong," she said.

"How so?" James asked.

"You're forgetting about the smartest Gryffindor. The Gryffindorwho happens to annoy you constantly, Jamie," Annie replied, using Jamie as her new nickname for James. "You're forgetting about-"

"You think Evans might be Head Girl?" Sirius interrupted. "Damn, Prongs, if she's right, then you're SCREWED. With a capital S. And then capital CREWED."

"Thank you oh-so-very-much for cutting me off, Sirius, but yeah, I think she probably is." Annie snapped.

James jumped up, and then sat down again. "If it is her..." he whispered, his eyes glinting.

Sirius got up and walked over to James, putting his hands on his shoulders and looking into his eyes. "You're not still into her, are you, Prongs?"

James got up and brushed off Sirius' hands. "I don't know, Padfoot! Yes. No. Maybe."

"She tore out your heart and played basketball with it, used it as a trampoline, fed it to a dragon and then stomped on it when it came out before obliterating it with magic!" Annie exclaimed.

"Excellent metaphor, but what the hell is basketball?" Sirius hissed to Annie.

"Oh, hush," Annie whispered back and she turned to James. "Do you?"

"Well..." James said, and he bit his lip, a very un-James-like thing to do. "Probably."

Sirius gaped at his friend. "Yeah- the last time you went through the battlefield you only lost a friggin toe, so lets go through it again! You're going skinny-dipping in Grindylow infested waters!"

Annie sighed. "Sirius!"

"You said it yourself- SHE FED MY PRONGSIES HEART TO A DRAGON!" Sirius hollered.

"And your Prongsie can make his own mistakes in life, correct?" Annie asked. "Like you did- LOSING YOUR VIRGINITY AT FOUR-FLIPPIN-TEEN."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me."

"Who was it with, anyways?" James asked. Annie turned pale and started to choke on air.

"Uh... Michelle Celsings, I think."

"That girl's a freak." James remarked.

"You been with her?"

James shook his head. "No, but I heard she likes to bite." Annie started to wonder, 'Bite what?'

"Oh, I know, man." Sirius groaned. "Left HUGE bite marks on my d-"

"I AM GOING UPSTAIRS NOW LALALALALALALALALALALA!" Annie screamed, and she ran upstairs plugging her ears. They heard the door slam.

James and Sirius watched her run.

"That girl is so weird sometimes." James remarked.

Sirius nodded. "SOOO over the top."

* * *

"Lily! An owl is in the living room and it won't leave!"

Lily looked up from the letter she was writing to Alice. She walked downstairs. "Relax, Mum, it's a Hogwarts owl." she held out her arm and the owl flew to her. She relieved it of its burden and it flew off, leaving Ellie rather bewildered.

Lily opened her letter, and something fell out.

Something shiny.

Something badgey.

Something with the initials _HG_... ey.

Lily promptly began screaming. "I GOT IT! I GOT IT! MUM! DAD!" Ellie and Steve ran in, thinking that Lily was under some extreme torture or something, because Lily never screamed like that. Ellie saw the badge, did the math, and started screaming too. Steve stared at the two screaming women and wanted to dig a hole in the ground and never come out.

"Got what, Lil?" Steve asked.

"I'm HEAD GIRL!" Lily squealed. Now, if it wasn't unmanly for Steve to start crying and jumping up and down, he would of done so. But since it was, he opened his arms for Lily, and he gave her a hug.

"Congratulations, Lily." Steve said, his voice cracking a little. "I'm very proud."

Lily beamed. "I get my own dorm and I get to organize things and I'm HEAD GIRL!" Lily started jumping up and down again. "I have to write to the girls!" she said quickly.

"Invite them over! " Ellie said. "Have a girls night! Celebrate!" Steve, for once, seemed to agree with his wife and nodded.

Lily smirked at the weird-ness of her parents. "Alright!" she ran upstairs and continued her letter to Alice.

_By the way, I'm HEAD FLIPPIN GIRL! My parents, in a moment of odd insanity (for Dad, anyways) want you all to come over soon. This weekend, probably! Ask your folks, alright?  
Love you to bits,  
Lily._

Then she wrote a quick letter to the triplets, having sent them a letter yesterday, she really didn't have anything else to say to them other then what she said to Alice. She called her owl, who's name was Fledge, and was a handsome barn owl. "Here. Try to deliver them fast, okey? And you'll get alot of treats when you come back," Lily coaxed, but Fledge was probably part-demon. "Treats and bacon. I'll make you some baco-" at the mention of bacon, which was Fledge's favorite food, he flew out. Lily constantly forgot on how bacon was probably bad for owls.

She decided to clean up her room a bit, and she found a book. She opened it, flipped through a few pages, and found it blank. It looked pretty familiar to her and had the air of magic around it, but for the life of her she couldn't remember where it was from. She put it down on her bed and continued to clean out the garbage from under her bed. Then she found an envelope that was addressed simply as _Lily._ There was no returning address.

Intruiged, she opened it, and a few pictures fell out. She held up the first one, and it looked like a wooden bed canopy that was horribly carved into everywhere. But on closer inspection, she saw it had Snitches and hearts and the letters _L.E. _everywhere. She put it down, a little weirded out that somebody would do that, but then she was awed by how they obviously thought about her all the time. But who was it from?

The next picture was a little weird, and probably more touching. It was of a guy comforting a girl that was crying and holding onto the guy's shirt, crying into his shoulder. Then she saw it was James, with an arm around Annie, who looked much younger then she did now. This one was a moving picture- James noticed the person taking the picture and threw a book at the camera-person. Then the camera moved back up and the small film began again.

Then there was a note, that looked to be written with a typewriter. It had four words:

_Thought you'd like this._

"No." Lily said to herself quietly. "No, I would not like this, because it makes me hard to hate Jam- I mean, Potter." It had just occured to her that it was James' bed canopy, that somebody had sent these to her in an effort to make her like James more. Would James have sent these himself? No, no, that wasn't likely... After all, he acted like an arrogant arse most of the time, sending her mail about how obsessed he was wouldn't help. Or how weak he was.

Maybe it helped. A little.

"I don't fancy Jame- Potter." Lily said out loud, and rather loudly- but in reality, she wasn't really sure.

* * *

"WHO are these FROM?" Alice demanded that weekened, lying on Lily's bed, looking at canopy picture. June was sitting on the floor with her back to the bed, looking at the other one. May had her chin on her knees and she was staring into space. April was currently hunting down cookies in the kitchen.

"I don't know. I found them under my bed." Lily said, looking out the window.

June looked up. "Think this one was planned, or something?" she asked.

"No." Lily said suddenly. "I ho- I mean, I don't think it is. Ja- POTTER hates to show weakness."

"That's what you say, anyways," May said quietly. "Lily's right."

"She's right?" June asked. Alice craned her head around June and looked at the picture over her shoulder.

"I'm right?"

May looked at the two. "Look at how young Annie is here- and her scar is still _red_. That must have been a few weeks after her parents died, and then, you and James were still friends. He wouldn't have planned it- also, he's throwing a book at whoever is taking the picture, so it's unlikely that it was planned incase he hit the camera and the picture was lost."

"Damn, I'm glad you're the smart one." June mumbled.

April banged in and closed the door behind her. "So much better here without Petunia," she sighed. "I bring cookies, guys." April put down a plate of cookies and the girls all started to munch on them.

Alice was grinning at Lily. Lily looked up at her, severely creeped out. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked.

"You almost said James earlier! Don't act like you didn't!" Alice teased. "You've been doing it all day!"

"Doing what?" Lily, April, and June asked together. May was too busy inhaling the cookies and didn't notice.

"Whenever we bring James up, she almost says his name." Alice jumped up. "You liiiike him! You wanna have his baaaaabies!"

"Haha, when April makes out with Sirius, remember?" May said suddenly, now having a bit of a sugar rush.

April and Lily looked at eachother and they both burst out laughing. "I forgot all about that!" April exclaimed.

"Me too!" Lily giggled. "Imagine, me with Jam- GOD DAMMIT."

"AHA! I was right!" Alice started laughing as well.

April continued to laugh.

Then, June, who was not obsessed with junk food like the others and only had a few cookies, said quite calmly. "You guys are a cute couple, though..."

Lily stopped laughing. "How so?" she asked, more curious then angry.

"Well, your red hair, his black hair, your bright green eyes and his dark brown- it's like light and dark clashing and mixing together." June sighed. "Look at it from a romantic novel sort of way."

"ROMANTIC NOVE-" Lily was cut off by June explaining.

"You're practically high-class. You don't enjoy spending time with people who make others lives harder. He's like a rogue, a scoundrel. What are the odds?" June asked.

Alice was now thinking with the romantic novel sort of way. "Or, since he's a pure-blood, he might be royalty, and his whole world is brought upside-down when he sees the dazzling, unbelievably attractive commoner Lily Evans- but she knows where her duty lies and won't give him the time of day!"

April giggled. "That does seem to be what is going on with them, anyways."

"HULLO. I'm right here!" Lily said, waving her arms wildly. "There is no world-turning of the sort with me and J- POTTER POTTER POTTER!"

"But it seems to be that you want to be able to be on a first-name basis with him, eh Lily?" June teased.

Lily hugged her knees. "You guys are horrible friends. Blaaaah, now my head is full of romantic novels."

"Maybe you shouldn't have read so many before, then." May said randomly, eating a cookie.

There was a moment of silence.

"I want to watch Ella Enchanted now." Lily said. All the girls turned to look at her, all of them having wizard parents and having no idea what Ella Enchanted was. "It's a movie."

They continued to stare at her.

"COME ON." Lily groaned, and they trooped out, May bringing the plate of cookies with her.

It was silent for a few minutes as they stared in amazement while Lily set up the TV, and then there was a loud yell.

"God damn it May, _YOU ATE ALL THE COOKIES!"_

* * *

"Padfoot?" James asked, knocking on Sirius' door. "Are you ok?" said, walking in. Sirius had run up to his room after he got a letter and he had stayed in there for a while.

Sirius was sitting on his bed, staring at the letter. "No." he said.

"Are you _drunk?_" James asked, noticing the bottle of Firewhisky beside him.

"A lil'."

James sat down next to Sirius. "What happened?"

"My uncle died."

James was only slightly confused- Sirius hated most of his family, except for his cousin Andromeda and his uncle Alphard, who both supported Sirius' ideas. He drew the conclusion that Alphard had died- if it was any other relative, Sirius probably would have been doing a victory dance. "Padfoot, I'm sorry..." James started, but he was cut off.

"He left me all his money." Sirius said blandly. "All of it."

James blinked, now having no idea at what to say.

"I miss him so much." Sirius hiccuped.

James nodded. "That's... That's natural, Padfoot."

Sirius gave him a very odd look. "How do you know what's natural if you've never been through it?"

"Because somebody we know has been through it." James said.

Sirius stared at him. He was obviously more then a little drunk.

"Think. Short girl. Scar on her face. Lives with me. My foster sister." James said, trying to make his clues easier.

"Huh?" Sirius replied.

"Sweet Merlin, never mind. Go to sleep." James got up. "I'll see you later, Padfoot."

"But I don' wann-" Sirius started, and then he passed out.

James rolled his eyes and walked down the hall. He looked out a window and saw Annie walking outside. He considered telling her, but he decided to let Sirius tell her. He walked along the hall, running his hands along the wall. Sirius. He loved him like a brother, but he had to control himself sometimes. He sometimes drank himself into a stupor. James did _not_ want to see the condition of his liver.

He walked into his room and sat at his desk, and promptly started to write a letter to Remus to tell him what happened.

_Hey Moony,_

_Sirius got word today that his uncle Alphard died. He's been in a bit of a bad state since he found out. In other words, well, he was passed out drunk on his bed last time I checked. And I'm sorry, I completely forgot to put him in the position that ensures that he doesn't choke on his own vomit. Okay, so I forgot what the position was. Sue me._

_I still can't believe I'm Head Boy. It's a weird feeling. I wasn't even a Prefect! And you're a prefect still, I get to boss you around. Who do you think is Head Girl? Did you talk to Lily about it? Is she Head Girl? Is May? _

_I'm really nervous about it, you know. What if it is Lily? She will honest to god KILL ME if it's her. Or she'll castrate me. After that moment on the train- MERLIN. Lily's got me under her spell again... fuck fuck fuck._

_I know I swear too much. Shut up.  
Cheers,  
James.  
PS: Tell Peter, will you? My owl is gone hunting and two letters would take ages for Sagi._

James went downstairs to call Sagi. He gave him the letter and watched the lazy owl fly off. That's when it occured to him that school started in a week.

And they hadn't gone shopping yet.

* * *

Lily walked through the barrier onto the platform where the Hogwarts Express was waiting. She was nervous- the summer had gone by so _fast_, and now it was her last year at one of the places where she felt she truly belonged. It was a weird feeling- but she shook it off, took her Head Girl badge from her bag and pinned it onto her shirt.

"Lily!" screamed some voices from in the crowd and many people looked around, including Lily, to find the source. Alice was running at her, full force, and nearly tackled her with a hug. "I missed you!"

Lily laughed and hugged her friend back. "Where are the triplets?" she asked.

"On the train, I think. I saw the Marauders earlier-" Alice started, but Lily groaned and cut Alice off.

"I don't care, Alice! I don't like James Potter, so why would I even care!"

Alice stopped, but she smirked. "You're awfully defensive for somebody who 'doesn't care'."

Lily rolled her eyes and started to walk along the platform. "And you're an awful friend."

The two walked in silence for a few minutes. "So how are you?" Lily asked Alice. "How are you and Frank?"

"Oh god, Frank!" Alice giggled. "Yesterday he came over and we decided to bake a cake. That was a really bad idea, neither of us knew how to use the oven! It was burnt and Frank went overboard with the icing. I'm so happy with him, Lily, I truly am."

Lily shot Alice what was probably one of the biggest death glares in existence- the best possible death glare belongs to a teenager in Ontario, Canada, and it has been nicknamed 'the new Voldemort'.

"What?" Alice said innocently. Lily continued to glare at her. Alice was a little creeped out. This was when Owen, innocent Owen, had decided to ask them if they had seen Annie.

"Hey guys-"

"STOP TRYING TO SET ME ON FIRE WITH YOUR BRAIN!" Alice screamed, and she ran onto the train. Lily burst out laughing and followed. Owen blinked a few times and decided to try his luck elsewhere.

* * *

"Prongs, you coming to sit with us on the train?" Peter asked, walking with the Marauders and Annie down the crowded hallway.

James shook his head. "I have to go to the Prefect compartment. Moony, care to show me where it is?"

"Of course." Remus said calmly. Sirius and Peter pouted.

"Anne, what about you?" Sirius asked. "Coming?"

"No, I said I'd meet-" Annie started, looking at Sirius, but the name of whoever she was meeting was not heard since she had just walked into somebody.

"Watch where you're going!" the boy said, and he turned around- revealing that it was Regulus Black. There was an awkward pause. "Sirius." he said coldly. Meanwhile, Annie was trying to pick up some things she had dropped.

Sirius looked at his brother coldly. "Merlin, have you no manners?" Sirius asked. "Help her."

Annie picked up some of her papers. "He probably doesn't want to help a _Mudblood_. Right, Regulus?" she asked, and she dropped a few papers. "Damn..." she whispered. In a second Regulus had grabbed it and handed it to her, an odd look in his eyes.

"Thanks," she whispered. There was another awkward silence.

"Annie!" said a voice behind Regulus. It was Owen. "Hey, Juliet was looking for you." he said. Annie looked grateful at the help.

"Alright." she smiled. "Lead the way?" she asked.

"Sure." Owen smiled and held out his hand- Annie took it and he led her through the crowd. Regulus scowled.

Sirius glared at his brother. "Shouldn't you be going?" he asked. Regulus rolled his eyes and walked off in the opposite direction.

"That was weird." Peter remarked.

"Uh, no shit." Sirius growled, now in a bad mood. "Let's find a compartment. See you later, guys."

He and Peter left. James watched them go. "I think that this year is going to be very dramatic."

"You're Head Boy. It has to be." Remus replied, and he disapeared in the crowd. James, in a hurry, ran after him.

* * *

James and Remus ran into the Prefect compartment where most of the Prefects and the Head Girl was waiting. Remus went to sit down and James turned to see who was Head Girl- his breath got caught in his throat. It was Lily.

"Potter, what are you doing here?" Lily asked.

James looked around and found everyone staring. "Oh. Right." he pulled his badge from his pocket. "I'm Head Boy."

Lily's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head. When she finally found her voice, she said, "Ah."

Some people giggled. James clapped his hands together. "So, Evans, did you explain to them what they have to do? Their responsibilities? Patrol, and stuff?"

Lily nodded. "We were just wrapping up when you and Remus walked in. Can somebody tell Potter what we missed?"

A girl, Ravenclaw by her robes, said, "Us prefects have to help first-years get used to Hogwarts, we have to make sure people get off the Train okay, we patrol once a week while you guys patrol every night except on weekends, we can only hand out detentions, no abusing of powers, we meet every two weeks, patrol starts in two weeks, right after the second meeting, and we're meeting tomorrow. Did I miss anything?" she asked Lily, who shook her head and smiled.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow in McGonagall's classroom at seven, okay? Right after dinner. Meeting shouldn't take too long." Lily said. "See you!" she waved to some people as they walked out. Remus walked out and James shut the door behind his friend.

"I didn't get a thing that she said," he said plainly.

Lily rolled her eyes. "That's so typical of you. Did you read your letter?"

James rubbed the back of his neck. "Er- Not really."

Lily looked like she was about to laugh. "Well, we patrol most nights except for weekends, that's when the teachers patrol. We patrol the sixth and seventh floors, making sure that nobody is out at night, and we need to check the broom cupboards for couples-"

"Padfoot is going to go nuts on that one," James muttered.

"Potter, can I finish?" Lily asked.

James coughed. "Yeah, sorry."

"We patrol between nine and eleven at night, and we can maybe organize some sort of events." Lily finished.

"Events like what?"

Lily rolled her eyes again. "Like, a fair, or a Christmas Ball, or a ball for Valentine's day- stuff like that."

"Oh." James said. "I guess I'll see you later, then." he turned to go.

"Potter, Wait!" Lily said quickly and James turned around, shocked. "Dumbledore wants to see us after the feast."

"Oh." James said again, for lack of anything else. "That's it?"

"Yep."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Are you completely certain?" James asked, teasing her.

Lily scoffed. "Goodbye, James!" she walked out and closed the door behind her. James stood still for a few seconds before running out.

"No, I don't think that an owl could beat a pigeon in a fight. Just can't be done." Sirius said in his compartment, shaking his head.

Peter looked at Sirius, a little confused. "How so, Padfoot?"

"Pigeons are evil," Sirius said seriously. Remus' reply wasn't heard by James running into their compartment door. He backed up, opened it, and walked in, slamming it behind him.

"What's up with you, Prongs?" Remus asked, noticing that James had a slightly crazy look in his eye.

"Guys." James started.

"Yeah?" Peter said eagerly.

"Guys!" James repeated. Sirius was mumbling about pigeons.

"Mhm?" Sirius asked.

"GUYS!" James exclaimed.

"WHAT, PRONGS, WHAT?" Sirius yelled.

James looked at his friends. "Lily," he started.

"Lily what?" Sirius asked, and then Remus elbowed him to shut up.

"Lily called me James."

There was a small silence, and then Peter and Sirius started congratulating James very loud. Remus, however, got up.

"You guys are seriously excited about this?" he asked.

"Of course I'm siriusly excited about this! I'm Sirius!" Sirius exclaimed, and everyone groaned.

"Really, Padfoot?" Peter muttered.

Remus looked at them. "If Lily calling Prongs James is a big deal to you, well..." he sighed.

"What, Moony?" James asked.

"You all are messed up. That's all I'm saying."

* * *

PINTONESS HELPED ME WITH THE LAST CHAPTER!

The chapter alone has 5706 words. I think I might be some sort of beast.  
So, before we get to the review-replying, I have a few questions.  
1. Should Annie become one of the main charries in this? Because I've been trying to make her more secondary, but with the plan I have in my head it might get confusing and almost impossible.

2. After 'The Family' is finished, I have three options for a fanfic. Which?  
a- A George Weasley-OC (daughter of Annie, because I really like Annie's family xD)  
b- An Albus-Rose-OC (who is a descendant of Annie, BTW)  
c- Another James-Lily fic, but it's more accurate to the storyline that JK laid out. Also, focuses on Lily.\

3. Should I really go until the deaths of James and Lily (which means it goes on a bit after to wrap up Annie and April), or to their graduation, or to Harry's birth, or their wedding. No matter what, the Epilogue would be first-person of JUNE. If its a bit after the JL, the epilogue might make more sense, if not, then the Epilogue would take a hell-lot of explaining then originally, but I don't mind.

If you could answer the three in your reviews, that would be PEACHY. Now, to the reviews!

PintoNess: Sorry, lubb! I've mentioned you three times, and soon four times, so forgive me. Pwease. :D

Scarlet Natalia: When I read your username, I thought of a flighty romance novel. No idea why. I'm weird. ANYWAYS, you're one of the first who ISN'T Pro Sirius-Annie. Don't worry, it's NEVER going to happen, not while I'm writing, anyways. And I'm glad you love it!

chocopaisly61: Thanks, I was on the fence on how short of a time Remus was mad at Sirius, but on the wikia page for him it said he was VERY forgiving, so I was like 'Okay, what the hell'. It seems everyone loves Annie, apparantly. And Lily will fall for James in seventh year (this year) as is stated by JK. When in the year, well, I don't want to give anything away!

Thanks, I love you all, and this chapter, including my A/n, is over 6000. NEEEEEEEW RECORD!  
Oh, and PLEASE answer the questions. Thanks. I can't decide! (The other JL fic would involve a half-Veela and a LOT of Snape weirdness. Just saying.)

This is 26, signing-  
PINTONESS HELPED ME WITH THE LAST CHAPTER. K, THANX, AND BAI!


	23. Kittens and MORE Revelations!

The people who answered the questions have it! Annie is now... BUH DUH DUH DAH! A main character, like Sirius or James or Lily. I'm still not sure about the fanfic after this- I believe I might to the Albus-Rose-OC (who is Annie's GRANDDAUGHTER) to wrap up the arc. And then the JL fic if I'm still in the fanfic buisness, and I prob will be. Oh! The Family will go on until Harry's birth- then the Epilogue will explain everything that happened between then and the death of the last surviving member- In my mind, since Alice and Frank were tortured into insanity, their minds, or souls, are already in the Wizardy Afterlife.  
On with the family!

* * *

"Potter!"

James and his friends turned around. Lily was behind them, hands on her hips, and she looked at James with a piercing look. "Forgot something?" she asked.

"Prongs, did you forget a broom-closet snog or a sha-" Sirius started, but Remus elbowed him in the ribcage.

James blinked a few times before it came to him. "Dumbledore's office! Right!" he grinned. "I'll see you guys later then!" he waved to his friends, and him and Lily started to walk down the hallway.

"Excited for the year?" James asked. "It's our last."

"I know." Lily said, and she turned around a corner. "It's sad."

James looked at her curiously. "Why?"

"I don't think I feel comfortable explaining that to you, Potter," Lily rolled her eyes and led the way down the hall.

"Well..." James said. He was DESPERATE to make some sort of conversation with her. "I think it's a little worrying, going into the world, with all this war stuff going on."

"You're already survived two Death Eater attacks- I think you'll do fine."

James smirked. "That sounded like a compliment."

Lily blanched. "N-No it wasn't! I was simply reporting the facts!"

"You said that you think that I'll do fine against Death Eaters. Means I'm strong." James said, and he flexed playfully.

"You're an arse." Lily rolled her eyes and stopped at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "_Blood pops._" she said, and the spiral staircase was revealed. She started to walk up.

"Blood pops? Ew," James remarked and he followed Lily. When he reached the top she was already in Dumbledore's office.

"Ah, James. Sit down." Dumbledore gestured to two chairs, and the Heads sat down. "I'm sure you are aware of the duties of Heads?" he asked the two.

James nodded- Lily said, "Yes, but why did you wish to see us?"

Dumbledore smiled. "I merely want to wish you luck with your responsibilities. It will be difficult, I'm sure, but I'm also sure you two will pull it off admirably. About your dormitory..." he said, looking through a pile of papers. "Your Head dormitory is behind the painting of the witch and the dog, on the seventh floor. You will decide the password."

"Can we still go to the Gryffindor dorm every now and then?" Lily asked.

Dumbledore chuckled at this. "We cannot stop you- you may sleep either in the Gryffindor tower or the Head dormitory."

"Can our friends visit?" James asked.

"Of course. But now, I think it's time for you to go off to bed." Dumbledore waved them off. Lily was confused at the unusually short exchange but she got up and left. James got up, but he stayed back.

"Sir?" he asked. "Why me?"

"Pardon?" Dumbledore looked up.

"Why am I Head Boy? Why not Remus, or somebody else?" James asked. The question had been on his mind since he had got the badge.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Do not underestimate yourself, James. Now, I should recommend that you catch up with Miss Evans before you get lost."

James was not comforted, but he did as the Headmaster said. He ran after Lily, and the two walked in silence. The reached a painting in a corridor in which one wall was complete windows- the opposite wall held the painting. In the painting, there was a girl in a bright red gown, in a brightly-lit field with a large white dog. James coughed, and the girl woke up. "Jeez, you're late," the girl in the painting mumbled.

"Sorry." Lily said quickly.

The girl grinned. "So, Evans and Potter, right?" she asked. James nodded. "What's the password?"

"Er- excuse me?" James asked.

"What's the password?" the Red Girl asked. "Like... what do you want to be the password?"

Lily and James looked at eachother. "Er... Do you-" Lily started, but James cut her off.

"Do you think-" James reddened and looked down. "How about Strawberries?" he said randomly.

Lily tried to associate Strawberries with anything that meant anything wrong and couldn't think of anything. "Sure."

"So... Strawberries?" the Red Girl asked. "Alright."

The portrait swung open. It was like the Gryffindor Common Room, only slightly smaller. There were a few bookshelves, and a large window with a window-seat, two desks, a roaring fireplace, and there were comfortable-looking sofas and couches around the fireplace. It looked warm, and friendly. On the left side of the window, there was a staircase, and on the right, there was another staircase. The one on the left said '_James_' above it and the other had '_Lily_' over it.

"Wow." Lily said simply, walking in. James followed and the portrait closed behind them, and that's when they noticed it was double-sided- they could see the Red Girl's back, as if she was staring at the grassy canvas. Lily ran up the stairs and opened the door and she saw a nice room. The walls were a light yellow, and there was a huge canopy bed with a dark green comforter. There was a dresser, a side-table, a floor-length mirror, a closet and another door. She opened it and found a large bathroom. It was like the Prefect's bathroom but smaller- a shower, a large tub with many options for bubbles, an elaborate sink with a shelf for her toothbrush and stuff, a mirror, and of course, a toilet. Lily proceded to unpack.

She made her way back down to the Head's Common Room when she was done unpacking and she saw the Red Girl facing her staircase looking slightly harassed. "There is two boys trying to get in and they are- Oof- banging on my canvas."

"Do they know the password?" Lily asked, having a feeling who the two boys are.

"They haven't got a clue- they're swearing about their friend who told them where it was but not what the password was."

"Who are they?" Lily asked, wanting to annoy the two boys further.

The Red Girl turned to the background said, "Hey- Snoggy and Pudgy. What are your names?" Lily didn't hear, but she could tell by the nicknames. The Red Girl turned back around. "Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew, Lily."

"LET THEM IN!" James hollered from his room, like he just remembered that he told Sirius by the mirror where the room was but not the password. The portrait swung open and Sirius and Peter fell in.

"Evans! So lovely to see you!" Sirius exclaimed, getting up. "How are the new digs treating you?"

Lily was a little creeped out, but she answered. "They're fine- why does she call you Snoggy?"

Sirius blushed- yes, he _blushed_- and said, "It's nothing."

Peter jumped up. "He was sloshed and trying snogging the canvas."

Lily hid a giggle as the portrait closed. The Red Girl lay down and fell asleep on the large white dog.

James ran down the stairs. "Hey guys. The password-"

"Don'ttellthemplease!" Lily hissed to James, but he ignored her.

"The password is Strawberries."

"Your favorite fruit. Go figure." Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, Prongsie, Moony said he would not like to join in tonight's shenanigans because he wants to relax."

James blinked. "We have shenanigans planned for tonight?"

"Breaking in your new dorm, of course!" Sirius said, shocked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Whatever- I'm going to bed."

"G'night, Evans!"

Lily paused. "Good night, Potter."

Sirius smirked. "Don't you mean James?"

Lily stared at him, and then she remembered what she had said on the train. "That never happened!" she shrieked, and ran up the stairs to her dorm.

* * *

"Ugh... this is impossible..." Sirius groaned. "Moony, help me, this is impossible..."

Remus was reading a book. "It is not impossible. Just used Golpalott's Third Law."

"How?" Sirius whined. School had been in session for two weeks and Sirius was already snapping. Oh my.

"We learned how to last year, look it up." Remus mumbled, and then he checked his watch. "Prongs, we have the Prefect meeting in a few minutes." The Marauders had left dinner half-way in an attempt to catch up on their work- which Sirius really didn't want to do.

James was snoring in his chair. Remus kicked it and James fell out. "Prongs. Meeting. Five minutes," he repeated.

James waved a hand. "I'm tiired..."

"Then go to sleep in your massive canopy bed, in your OWN dorm," Sirius grumbled.

"And patrols start today, too. Have fun." Remus said, closing his book.

"Blaaaaah. I'm tiiiired." James muttered, and he buried his head in his hands. Then there was a parade of people walking into the Common Room, obviously returning from dinner. He reconized Annie and shouted her name. Still a platinum blonde from the summer, she walked over.

"Yes, Jamie?" she asked.

"Transform into me and go to the Prefect's meeting for me and patrol with Lily so I don't have to move-" James started, but Annie slapped him upside the head.

"I already did that for the first meeting, I won't do it again!" Annie snapped. James was near-unconciousness when the first Prefect meeting came around, so Sirius begged Annie to go to the meeting as James, so Lily won't think he's skiving off. "Merlin, that was awkward..." Awkward it was, since the nerdy Ravenclaw had tried to kiss Annie, thinking it was James, after the meeting.

James groaned and got up. "Fine. I hate you."

"Love you too!" Annie said, and she took James' chair. "Bye Remus." she said, waving.

James looked offended. "No bye to me?"

"Bye, butthead!"

James rolled his eyes. "Come on, Moony. To my doom!" He and Remus walked off.

"What's up, guys?" Annie asked.

Peter pointed to Sirius. "He's all stressed."

"I'm not stressed. I'm bored!" Sirius put his book down and pouted. "But ignore that, what's that on your face?" he asked.

Annie took out a small pocket mirror. "It's a bruise. I got hit in Care of Magical Creatures today."

"What happened?" Sirius asked, concerned.

"I fell."

Sirius could tell she was lying. "What really happened?"

"I got pushed over, okay? A Slytherin knocked me over!" Annie snapped, getting up. "And don't go after any Slytherins. I can take care of myself!" she said, and she walked out.

"What's her problem?" Peter asked. "Did something happen?"

Sirius watched her go. "I have absolutely no idea."

* * *

James sat through the meeting, dull as hell. The nerdy Ravenclaw, Tiana, was rambling about how they could make patrols more efficient. Even Lily looked a little bored.

James had learned the names of all the prefects in a few minutes. There was Remus, and a girl named Nessie Wesome was the female Gryffindor Prefect, seeing Lily was now Head Girl. Tiana Smithson was a sixth year, as was her partner, Normandy Acre, though Normandy was alot less nerdy then his partner. Hufflepuff had Amos Diggory, and Lee Johns, both seventh years. Slytherins had Ferald Chevron and Asisa Magist, and both were sixth years. The meeting had been going on for an hour and a half. James was nearly snoring.

"That's all the ideas I have for now, but come to think of it-" Tiana rambled on, but Lily cut her off.

"I think we should end the meeting here for tonight- patrol starts in half an hour, guys. Normandy and Tiana, you have the lower floors, Amos and Lee, the middle floors. Me and James have the last two. Any questions?" Lily said loudly. Nobody said anything and soon everybody was piling out.

James grabbed his bag and started to walk out after about ten minutes, because Chevron had started to talk to him about Quidditch. . Lily joined him, and she yawned.

"God, that was boring," James mumbled.

Lily gave him a look. "Don't be mean, Potter, she was just trying to help."

"If that's what happens every meeting I'm going to skive off." James mumbled.

"Don't." Lily growled. "Are you going to the dorm or the Gryffindor Common Room?" she asked.

"Dorm, I think."

Lily held back a groan. "I'm going there too. Come on."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, and then Lily turned to James. "So we'll meet for patrol in like- ten minutes or something?"

"Sure. In our Common Room." Lily nodded to this, and they walked on. When they reached the Heads Dorm, Red (as they had nicknamed the girl in the portrait) sighed.

"Thank _god_ you guys are here, I thought I'd have to get Dumbledore. Snoggy's doing something inside-"

"STRAWBERRIES!" James and Lily yelled, hearing the words 'Snoggy's doing something' caused enough panic. Red swung open and they nearly doubled over laughing. Sirius was surrounded by kittens. Lots of kittens. And some were hissing at him.

"What the hell did you do, Black?" Lily asked, stepping into the room and picking up a brown kitten.

"I was trying-" Sirius dove to stop a kitten from going into the fireplace. "I was trying to transfigure a chair into a cat, for practise, but then something went wrong and then there was kittens! Kittens! EVERYWHERE!"

"They're cute. And fluffy!" Lily remarked, nuzzing the brown kitten.

James smirked. "So what do you suggest, Vanishing them?" he asked, raising his wand.

"James Potter, you are not sending twenty-odd kittens into oblivion!" Lily snapped. "I want to keep this one. Fledge can stay at home." she whispered to the kitten, and she nuzzled it.

"Well what are we going to do, Evans? Have a kitten sale?" Sirius snapped at Lily, and then all three looked at eachother.

Lily continued to hold the brown one. "I'm naming her Valen."

"That's very nice, Evans, but what about the nineteen others?" James asked.

"Raise them for a bit and then offer to sell them to families. McGonagall would get a kick out of it, anyways. She adores cats." Lily continued to hug her kitten. She ran up to her room and put the kitten on her bed, conjuring a bowl and filling it with water for it to drink. She made sure it was comfortable before running back down. Sirius and James had made a pen and they were rounding up the kittens inside.

"Okay, we need to go on patrol." James said, judging the look Lily was giving him. "Padfoot, can you watch these guys for a bit? Red, can you make sure nothing goes wrong? Great." he said, before either man or portrait could say anything. "Evans, let's go." They walked out of the portrait hole, and the portrait shut. Red and Sirius looked at eachother and looked away.

"This is awkard.." Red said quietly. The painted big white dog was staring at the pen full of kittens.

Sirius nodded. "This is why I avoid my exes!"

* * *

"All I'm saying is-" Juliet was saying.

"Ahem."

Annie and Juliet turned around and they found themselves staring at Regulus Black. "Hello," Juliet said coolly. Annie told her about what had happened on the train and both were weirded out by what happened. Annie stayed silent.

"Can I talk to you?" Regulus asked Annie. Annie blinked.

"Why would you want to talk to a _Mudblood_, Regulus?" Annie asked. "Whatever you can say, you can say in front of Juliet."

Regulus shot Juliet a glare that meant _Go away before I hurt you._ Juliet coughed. "I'm going to go to the Common Room, Annie. I have to- uh- study for Potions." Annie looked at Juliet, begging her with her eyes not to leave her alone with 'Creeper-Numero-Uno' as she called him. Juliet ran off. Annie turned back around, her wand at her side just in case.

"What?" Annie spat. "Coming to finish your cousins' work? I bet Mummy and Daddy would be so proud of you if you murdered a Mudblood."

Regulus shook his head. He was about to say something, but Annie cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it. Okay? I don't. Want. To hear it. I'm leaving," she turned to go, but Regulus grabbed her hand. Annie turned around quickly. "_Everte Statum!_" she hissed, pointing at Regulus, making him go backwards into a wall.

"That hurt," Regulus said, going towards her. Annie stepped back.

"Don't go near me or I'll do it again," she threatened. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Go to Hogsmeade with me?" Regulus asked, panting.

Annie's eyebrows went on a hike in her hairline, and she lowered her wand out of shock. "Pardon?"

"Go to Hogsmeade with me. Please," he added.

Annie started laughing. "You think, that after all the misery you put me through in First Year- after everything you did to me- what your FAMILY did to me, that I'll go out with you?"

"It was worth a shot-" Regulus started, and he raised his wand for self defense in case she'd hex him again, but they were interrupted by the arrival of James and Lily.

James and Lily stared at the scene- imagine it. After-hours. A Pure-Blood, who is related to a Death-Eater and is part of a family that is Pro-Voldemort, pointing his wand at an orphaned Muggleborn.

Lily wanted to groan. No doubt James would put all the blame on Regulus and let Annie off with a light warning- that's what she thought, anyways.

"Hey. You two know the rules," James said loudly. "5 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. And detention for both of you." Regulus scowled and walked off, but Annie was still in slight shock. Lily was in shock as well.

"Come on, I'll walk you to the tower." James said, grabbing Annie's arm and pulling her along. "What'd he want from you?"

Annie opened her mouth to tell him but she closed it, knowing that if he told Sirius, Sirius might go murder his brother. "Usual Slytherin stuff. He didn't do anything, I'm fine."

"Why are you out after-hours?" Lily asked Annie, knowing that the fourth-year was usually very time-concious.

Annie bit her lip. "I just lost track of the time," she said, shrugging.

The three walked on, and Annie watched the two intently. When they reached the Fat Lady, Annie simply waved to the two before going inside, and they could hear Juliet screaming for her friend before the portrait closed.

Lily and James walked on. "You did well back there, Potter." Lily said, just to make conversation.

"Whad'you mean?" James asked.

"You didn't let Annie off though she's your friend-"

James interrupted Lily. "You think that I'd let her off because she lives with me? Fat chance. I never thought I'd say this, but rules are rules."

"But-" Lily started.

"I'm not an arrogant little berk anymore, Evans. I try not to be, anyways. Don't act like people always stay the same. People change." James said, and they walked in silence until they reached Red. Lily mumbled the password and they climbed inside, seeing that Sirius was passed out on the couch.

"Evans, do you want this to work?" James asked suddenly as Lily was climbing her staircase. She turned around.

"Want what to work?" she asked.

James sighed. "This. Us being Heads. We can't ignore or hate eachother if we're supposed to cooperate- right?"

"Yeah, but-" Lily started, but James cut her off again for the third time that night.

"Can we pretend that most of this dramatic crap never happened?" James asked. "Go back to first year and meet all over again?"

Lily stood there, and she looked into James' eyes. They had the same effect on her that they had in the summer- she bit her lip, and then she nodded. James' face lit up into a smile.

"Well then- I'm James Potter. Pleasure to meet you," James said, holding out his hand.

Lily shook his hand, saying, "I'm Lily Evans. Charmed." she let go of his hand. "Goodnight, Po- James." she said, and she went upstairs.

James watched her go. "Night, Lily."

Sirius' voice broke through James' little moment of happy inner celebration. "Dude, you are totally _whipped_!"

* * *

"Guys?"

April, May and Alice all looked towards the door of their dorm. Annie stuck her head in. "Can I talk to you about something?" she asked.

"Pull up a pillow!" April said, and she grabbed a random pillow and threw it at Annie, who caught it. It was the weekend, near the end of September. "What's up?" she asked, when Annie was comfortable. Annie bit her lip.

"I think James still likes Lily," Annie answered after a pause. There was another moment of silence before Alice let out a whoop.

"I TOLD you!" she said, pointing at May and April. "I TOLD YOU! He still likes her after everything that happened!"

May looked at Annie. "So why are you telling _us_ this?"

"I don't want James getting hurt again. They're just starting to be friends and I don't want another thing like last time to happen! It'll crush him!" Annie exclaimed.

"And Lily probably likes James a little." April said to Alice. "Remember how she kept on saying his name during the summer?"

"So we have to hook them up," May concluded for Alice. "The question is- _how_?"

Alice rubbed her chin, thinking. "I don't think we have to hook them up as much as give them a little push."

"Pushing Lily is like enslaving centaurs. You'll be screwed no matter what." April pointed out.

"Why don't you guys talk to her?" Annie asked. "I mean- you're her best friends. Find out where he stands with her _then_ decide a course of action. It's not like James is going anywhere."

The three looked at eachother. "Oh." Alice said, and April grinned.

"Good thinkin', Lincoln!" she exclaimed.

Annie stared at April, not familiar with the expression.

"My name's Annie..."

* * *

I know this chapter is a bit short and the end of it is a bit crappy, but I don't care. I'm a little tired, and I have a message.

I can't update for the next week or so! :O I know. But for one, I don't have a laptop yet (it hasn't come yet) and I'm tired of the desktop, and two, I'm going to work at a camp during the day and there's a three day camping trip starting TOMORROW. When I get my laptop, I WILL update, but until then, you guys are going to have to wait.  
Thank you to everybody who answered my questions- for the answers, read the TOP A/N!

I am SO going to get mixed reviews for the Regulus-Annie thing, but in my mind, not only does he quit the Death Eaters because of Moudly Voldy threataning Kreacher, but since Voldy doesn't know LOVE, I thought, HOLY CRAP! ANOTHER SNAPE-LIKE THING! It made sense in my head.  
I actually cannot wait until I start the ALBUS-ROSE-OC fanfic, because I have sooo many ideas! And Scorpius! Holy flying pancakes! Scorpius' existence and Malfoy's sorta-aquaitence with Harry and Ron opens up so many doors!

Review time!

PintoNess: Thank you! :D

Scarlet Natalia: The username thing was blank but I'm guessing this is you! Thanks for the Annie/Anne feedback, And yeah, I hate the idea of incest.. It's just WEIRD. And thank you about it being hilarious, I try! :3 I truly do.

chocopaisly61: Indeedly do, James IS hopeless. But that's why we love him!

MusicSavesMe711: I've decided to go until Harry's birth, but thank you for the feedback. I MAY do the George-OC thing later on, but not right after the Family. I only have a few ideas for it, but the other two, I have TONS of ideas for. And thanks for lubbing it! :D

This has been a regular update by 26. Please, please read the first two paragraphs before you review, just UNDERSTAND why I made some choices. Thanks! :D

This is 26, signing off.


	24. Blackboards and Blackmail

After a few weeks, April, May and Alice had decided that Lily wasn't going to admit her feelings for James as fast as they wanted. One day, while Lily and James were on patrol, the girls marched into the boy's dorm, to May's dismay.

Annie was on James' old bed, staring at his canopy. Peter was lying on his stomach with his tongue sticking out writing an essay. Sirius was asking Annie all sorts of things, things about girls, her life, and ideas for pranks. Remus was nowhere to be seen while Frank was reading a book.

"Hello, boys!" Alice exclaimed, walking in. Sirius jumped at the sound of her voice and fell onto the floor.

"Merlin, Alice, don't you make any noise?" Sirius asked, very irate.

"We have a plan!" April shouted, ignoring Sirius completely.

"What kind of plan?" Peter asked, sitting up and putting his essay aside.

"A plan to get James and Lily together!" April answered.

Sirius looked up at the three girls. "Seriously?"

"I'm dead serious about this," April replied.

"You can't be serious, I'm Sirius!" Sirius exclaimed. Annie groaned and punched him.

"Sirius, shut up," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes, which had dark circles under them. Sirius' apology was interrupted by Remus walking out of the bathroom, hair wet, dressed in only a towel. He froze at the sight of May. Annie ducked under James' blankets, squealing about putting clothes on. May stared.

"This is very awkward," Remus remarked.

"Get some fucking clothes on, Remus!" Annie screamed from under the blanket. Remus blushed and grabbed some random clothes from his wardrobe before slipping back into the bathroom.

Alice clapped her hands together. "As April was saying before Remus did his little strip-tease, we want to get James and Lily together this year. They obviously have so much chesmistry it's like an explosion in Potions class."

Annie emerged from the blankets. "These guys were thinking the same thing, but their plan involved kidnapping and a love potion," she said, and she added, "By 'their plan', I mean 'Sirius's plan'."

Sirius jumped up. "Then let's get this show on the road!" Sirius exclaimed. He waved his wand and a large chalkboard appeared. Sirius started drawing a complicated plan on the board using chalk. When he was finished, he stood back. "Okay, so how about we blackmail-"

"_No!_" the girls chorused.

"Okay, how about we slip Lily a-"

"_No_!" the girls yelled for a second time. Alice got up and erased Sirius' plan. "Sit," she said, and she wrote a few steps on the board. It read as follows:

Plan Get-These-Stubborn-Asses-Together

[ ] 1. _Get Lily to trust James! Stop doing pranks, stop sass-talking about him, and stop jinxing random people! Get her to openly admit that she trusts him before moving on._

[ ] 2. _Make sure that James does not succumb to some other girl's spells. Keep them single for as long as possible! If James gets a girl sometime during Phase One, make sure they break up. Same goes for Lily. Make sure they are comfortable being alone with each other._

[ ] 3._ Once they become good friends, watch their behaviour! Is Lily blushing a lot? Is James being gentleman-like around her? Are they both defensive? If so, then make some awkward situations for them to be forced to be close together. Use a prank as a last resort!_

[ ] 4. _Wait for magic to happen. If it doesn't, then try and influence them more! Try anything and everything. Be honest about the feelings for each other- ie: Lily is in the library, talking to one of the Marauders. If James comes up, mention how he has improved (if Sirius, talk about how shameful he is being) and how glad he is to be friends with Lily- we all know he is, and visa-versa. At no point should the best friends give their friends false hope- may add cockiness._

[ ] 5_. If they still aren't together by this, intervene. Girls for Lily. Guys for James. If it fails, send in the A-Bomb- Annie, to be brutally honest to whoever if the failure is._

[ ]_ 6. Lock them in the Room of Requirement if they still aren't together. Last Resort._

Remus walked into the room, and he spent a few minutes reading the board. When he finished, he said, "That actually seems reasonable."

"Really?" Alice asked, and she lit up.

"Yes, it's good," Annie said. "And can I ask why I'm the last resort for the interventions?"

"Lily knows you won't do stupid stuff for James unless it's killing him, and James really cares about you- and you care about him too, so you'll be honest," Alice explained.

"Who says that I care about him that much to not sugar-coat anything?" Annie snapped.

"You're still platinum blonde," said April. Annie blushed.

"So, does everybody understand the plan?" Alice asked. Peter and Remus nodded. May didn't react, still in shock from a topless Remus. April said an energetic 'yep!', but Sirius frowned.

"_No_ pranks?" Sirius asked.

"Not one," snapped Alice. "Until they are together. And _happy_ together." At this, Annie lit up. April noticed and decided to ask her about it later.

Then they heard a laugh downstairs, from the Common Room.

"It's James!" Annie exclaimed.

"Okay, activate Phase One! Operation Get-These-Stubborn-Asses-Together is in focus!" Alice whispered. The girls ran out and down the stairs, past a bewildered James, laughing about their upcoming victory.

* * *

Lily was sitting cross-legged in the Head's Common Room a few days later, clambering with kittens, when Sirius walked in pompously. Red shot him a death glare before swinging shut and turning her back on the two.

"'Allo, Evans, seen Prongsie anywhere?" Sirius asked, as two of the kittens clambered off Lily and started playing with Sirius' shoelaces.

"Nope," Lily said, working on her essay. "Hey, whats the spell for Transfiguring an animal into a water goblet?" she asked.

"We learned that in Second Year, why do you want to know?" Sirius asked, sitting next to her.

"I'm thinking about inferring some of the aspects of something-to-animal transfiguration to our essay on the spells and difficulties of becoming an Animangus," Lily explained.

"I think it's _Fera Verto_." Sirius said. "Did you know there's a spell to turn people's heads into pumpkins?" he asked. Lily burst out laughing.

"Are you serious, Black?" she asked.

"Completely serious. It actually encases their heads with a jack-o-lantern, but I came across it in the library a few weeks ago," Sirius expained.

"I cannot believe you didn't use the Sirius-serious pun!" Lily exclaimed.

Sirius smiled. "Only out of respect for the Head Girl."

"Do you have a photographic memory?" Lily asked, curious.

"Alas, I only tell my friends that!" Sirius said, and he tapped Lily on the nose. "Lily, do you want to be my friend?"

"Alright. Might as well befriend all the Marauders, Bl- Sirius," Lily said, and she shook Sirius' hand.

"I may have a photographic memory, but I don't have any film!" Sirius joked. "But call me Padfoot."

Lily made a face. "Ugh, why do I have to call you that? Those nicknames don't make any sense to anybody who isn't a Marauder."

"Then think of something, Lil, because I refuse to answer to Sirius to you!"

They sat in silence for a few seconds. "I am calling you Snuffles," Lily announced.

"You're calling me _what_?" Sirius yelped.

"Snuffles. Now help me with this essay," Lily said.

"What's so hard about it?" Sirius asked.

Lily rubbed her temples. "I just don't understand the process of becoming an Animangus. It's so complicated."

"Psh, it's easy." Sirius said, and then he froze. Lily turned and raised an eyebrow. "I mean- for any wizard who is powerful enough to try it, you know, it's probably easy. Maybe it looks hard to you because you don't have the right mindset for it."

"Oh..." Lily said quietly. "Maybe... I think I'm going to put it aside for a bit and work on some Head duties. We're planning a dance for Valentine's day, you know."

"But we've barely reached Halloween! It's still in two weeks! That makes Valentine's Day ages away..." Sirius sighed.

"You'll live, don't worry Snuffles!" Lily said, and she laughed. "Why were you looking for James, anyway?"

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I was looking to see if he had spoken to Annie lately. She's kinda been weirding out lately. Where is he?"

"He went to go find McGonagall to tell her about the kittens. They're growing so fast," Lily said. "I'm going to miss them all."

"I won't..." Sirius grumbled.

"Why not?" Lily asked. "Kittens are cute!"

"I'm a dog person."

"That does make sense, you seem to attract bitches."

* * *

"April!"

April turned around to see Sirius peering through a bookshelf in the Library. She jumped. "What, Black?"

"I know a perfect deadline for James and Lily!" Sirius hissed.

"Get over here so I can talk to you normally," April groaned. Sirius ran around and stood in front of her.

"I was talking to Lily, and at first it was kinda weird since I was helping her with Transfiguration, but then she mentioned that the Heads were planning a dance for Valentine's Day!" Sirius exclaimed. "Also, Lily is having trouble with Transfiguration, and James can help her with it every few nights or something to build up trust!"

April's eyes widened. "That's... That's actually great, Sirius!" she smiled at Sirius. "So you and Lily are friends now?"

"Yeah!" Sirius said, excited. "I was looking for James. Seen him?"

"Well- he popped in here half an hour ago, looking for McGonagall, but she wasn't here and he left," April said. "Try looking around her office, he might be just leaving. Who knows."

"Great, thanks!" Sirius ran out.

"That was weird..." April muttered to herself. She turned around and found herself right infront of Annie.

"April?" she said shyly. "Can I talk to you about something?" she asked

"Sure," April said, glad to hear what was going on.

"What do you do when somebody likes you and you don't know if you like them back, but you don't want them to get hurt in any case?" Annie blurted out.

April sat down, and Annie did as well. "Well..." April started. "I guess it's best to tell the truth."

"What if you're afraid of the consequences?" Annie asked.

"Well why don't you tell me-"

"I gotta run!" Annie said, jumping up. She walked out of the Library without looking back, and without looking much better.

"This has been a very odd day," April remarked, and she went back to looking for a book.

* * *

"Do you often go for walks late at night?"

Annie spun around, startled. Severus Snape stood in front of her, wand raised.

"It's none of your business!" Annie exclaimed.

"Oh, but it's quite interesting," Snape said, and Annie took a step backwards, scared. "I hear you crying and asking yourself of what's happened to your life, and how hard it is to hide your feelings for one of your best friends, and how it tears you up inside. And your whispers about somebody who you're afraid to hurt but just simply cannot stand simply fill me up with gossip."

"Then go subscribe to Witch Weekly, creep." Annie snapped. "No wonder Lily can't stand you!" Snape glared at her.

"It's sad you think that..." Snape said. "Because I have a proposition for you."

"I would never do anything you asked me to, creep."

"That's too bad... Because imagine the shock the school would go through if they found out Anne Heart, defensive but selfless, the confident orphan, cried every night because of her feelings, and her parents. Imagine that..." Snape said oily. "Or if she could have stopped James Potter and Sirius Black from being attacked by Slytherins, and rendered to cripples..."

"You wouldn't dare do that!" Annie said.

"I might... Unless you do something for me," Snape said. "Sneak notes into Lily's room, or I'll personally make your life a nightmare. Never tell her, or you will be nothing but a memory to them. Potter and Black will be attacked. And you will be remembered as a crybaby."

Annie felt a tear run down her face, thinking of James and Sirius. They protected her, so she will do anything to protect them. "Fine..."

"Good. I will send you the first note by school owl when I feel it's necessary," Snape said. "Remember what I said, Mudblood." He turned and left, leaving Annie alone. Eventually she returned to her dormitory, where her friends were all asleep. Nobody heard her cry herself to sleep.

* * *

Soon, Halloween was only a few days away. The Heads (as well as the prefects) had their hands full with business, mainly preparing the Great Hall for the Halloween feast that was to take place. The night before Halloween, Lily and James were asked to stay up and make sure everything was in order. The Prefects (save for Remus) had all gone to bed. Sirius and Peter arrived to help out, but hey weren't helping as much as spying.

"James, the bats are being restless, can you go feed them?" Lily asked. Dumbledore had allowed them to purchase about a hundred bats to fly around for the Halloween feast, and Lily was regretting is already.

"I'm on it!" James said, very chipper about the whole situation. He loved Halloween. He walked over to the cage to feed them as Lily climbed a ladder to re-attach a streamer that had fallen. "Lily, do you think that we should make the cage a bit bigger...?" he asked.

"Remus, go talk to James!" Lily said, fumbling with the Spellotape. Sirius was holding the ladder that Lily was on, and he sneezed, letting go of the ladder and walking to go wash his hands. Lily was completely unaware of this and continued to have an epic match with the Spellotape. Peter watched Lily, trying to see if anything from Phase Three was already occurring even if they were still on Phase One.

"James, I don't think they need a bigger cage-"

"Well, look closer and see!" James insisted.

"I doubt I see anything," Remus said, and he patted the cage top. "I think she's good- oh _bugger_." Patting the top of the cage caused the door to swing open, and all the bats flew out like it was a race to get a million Galleons. They all flew towards Lily, who started screaming when the bats flapped around her. She let go of the ladder to shoo them away, and the ladder started rocking slowly backwards.

"_James_!" Lily screamed as the ladder fell. James whipped out his wand and used a Cushioning Charm so Lily could land comfortably. He ran over to her.

"Are you okay?" James asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Where the fuck if Sirius?" Lily demanded, rubbing the shoulder where James' hand was not.

"He's off being an idiot," James said. "Does your shoulder hurt?"

"A little..." Lily sighed. James sat behind her and started to massage her shoulders. "James... What the hell are you doing?" she asked.

"Massaging your shoulders to try and get out any kinks," James replied. "Just relax."

Somebody walked by the entrance of the Great Hall, and Remus went to go tell them off for being up so late. When Lily felt better, then rounded up the bats and put them back in the cage before cleaning up the mess. When they finished, James and Lily went on patrol, as Peter and Remus went to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"So how is your shoulder?" James asked.

"Oh- It's fine, thanks," Lily replied. "How did you know that a massage would help?"

James smiled. "I was practicing Quidditch last summer with Sirius and Annie, and I got one of those softer practise-Bludgers to the shoulder. Sirius insisted on taking me to St. Mungos, but Annie dragged me to this form of Muggle healing. I got a... Jeez, I forgot what it was called. A kiropritur?" James asked.

Lily giggled. "A _chiropractor_. I'm guessing you got an chiropractic massage."

"That's it," James said.

"Speaking of Quidditch, when is it starting?" Lily asked, curious. "We may have to change the schedule for the patrols because of practice."

"The first game, it's on the second Saturday of November. I don't know why they started it so late this year..." James shrugged. "Sirius has scheduled practice for from like, six until noon on every Saturday and Sunday until them. I'm completely swamped," James sighed.

"Who did Sirius get to replace Josh?" Lily asked.

"A third-year, Alexandra Benice," James answered. "She's pretty good- not as brilliant as Cameron, a little worse then Bridget, but she'll get better with practice."

Lily nodded. "Do you think you'll be able to balance school with Quidditch?" she asked.

"I should be able to. How about you?"

Lily sighed. "I'm having some trouble with Transfiguration..."

"I can help you, if you want!" James said. "If you trust me, I mean..."

Lily gave him an odd look. "You sure?"

"Yeah!" James said. "It would be nice to help people, right?"

"Hm..." Lily said.

"You do trust me, right?" James asked, suddenly looking vulnerable.

Lily smiled at how cute James looked. "Of course I trust you. How about you help me after your practice on Saturday? I can help you with Charms or Potions, in return."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Oh, how did the kitten-plan go?" Lily asked.

"McGonagall said that she'll take them in until they are old enough to give away for adoption. She thinks it could be used to raise morale and stuff. She also said the ones who aren't adopted can be kept in the school as mouse catchers."

Lily grinned. "She really is a cat person, isn't she?"

"Oh yeah. How's your cat? Valen, right?" James asked.

"She's growing fast. She eats so much, it's like an animal form as Sirius..." Lily said, and she started laughing. "I just imagined Sirius as a dog! Oh my gosh, wouldn't that be hilarious?"

James rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah... Absolutely hilarious..."

* * *

Halloween had long gone and the team behind Plan Get-These-Stubborn-Asses-Together had another meeting, while James and Lily were working on their homework, with James helping Lily.

"So, we need to update our board," Sirius started. He pulled the board from under his bed, and set it up.

Plan Get-These-Stubborn-Asses-Together

[X] 1. _Get Lily to trust James! Stop doing pranks, stop sass-talking about him, and stop jinxing random people! Get her to openly admit that she trusts him before moving on._

[ ] 2. _Make sure that James does not succumb to some other girl's spells. Keep them single for as long as possible! If James gets a girl sometime during Phase One, make sure they break up. Same goes for Lily. Make sure they are comfortable being alone with each other._

[ ] 3._ Once they become good friends, watch their behaviour! Is Lily blushing a lot? Is James being gentleman-like around her? Are they both defensive? If so, then make some awkward situations for them to be forced to be close together. Use a prank as a last resort!_

[ ] 4. _Wait for magic to happen. If it doesn't, then try and influence them more! Try anything and everything. Be honest about the feelings for each other- ie: Lily is in the library, talking to one of the Marauders. If James comes up, mention how he has improved (if Sirius, talk about how shameful he is being) and how glad he is to be friends with Lily- we all know he is, and visa-versa. At no point should the best friends give their friends false hope- may add cockiness._

[ ] 5_. If they still aren't together by this, intervene. Girls for Lily. Guys for James. If it fails, send in the A-Bomb- Annie, to be brutally honest to whoever if the failure is._

[ ]_ 6. Lock them in the Room of Requirement if they still aren't together. Last Resort._

"Lily trusts Prongs enough to let him tutor her, and visa-versa," Remus said, standing up. "Prongs told me that it's slightly awkward being around her alone, so Phase Two isn't complete yet. But they're obviously close enough to let him _massage _her."

"Uh... Actually, we have a small problem," Annie spoke up. "Samantha- my friend- has a cousin in sixth year. Her name's Ada, and she's in Ravenclaw."

"Why is this important?" May asked.

"She's deadset on dating James, Lily or no Lily," Annie said. "You all know who she is- curly auburn hair, bright blue eyes-"

"Dimples?" Remus asked. "Figure of a Barbie doll?"

"That's her."

"How do you know her, Moony?" Peter asked.

"I dated her for a few weeks, but when she got to know Prongs, she ditched me for him. I don't mind." Remus shrugged. "She was a good kisser, but she had the personality of a screw driver."

Sirius laughed. "Damn, Moony, you're becoming quite the hot tamale!"

"Two girls in three months isn't a huge deal, Padfoot. But can we stop talking about this? We have more important things to deal with," Remus said, blushing. May was looking shocked.

"Remus is right," April said, standing up. "This can become a problem. A big one. I know Ada from some of my exes- she'll do anything to get what she wants."

"Of course something comes to ruin our plan," May grumbled. "When everything was going perfect, it gets ruined by some minor detail."

"Like your relationship with Moony?" Sirius asked, and both May and Remus turned beet red.

"Padfoot, please shut up..." Remus said quietly.

"Yes, do!" May snapped. "Besides, what's the point of getting Lily and James together, anyways?"

Annie turned around to face May. "Pardon?"

"Why bother if they'll just break up?"

"Who says that they will?" Annie asked fiercely. "Just because you ruined your relationship with Remus, it doesn't mean that other with be self-destructive in their romances." The room fell quiet. May stood up, and Annie did as well. They always got along great until now, and seeing Annie attack May (mentally, at least) was scary. "You just don't want others to be happy because you're miserable!" Annie snapped. "And because you were too stupid to see what you needed was in front of you, you decided to flip out at one of the few people who would have died for you."

"That's enough!" Remus said, stepping in between the two.

"Don't bullshit me, Remus. You still care about May, don't you?" Annie asked. "So you whore yourself out top try and make her jealous, so you can make her see what she's missing."

"_What_?" May asked, and she turned to Remus. "You still like me?"

Remus turned and walked away without saying anything. May ran after him.

Annie crossed her arms and showed the four remaining people a countdown with her hands, before Remus and May walked back inside, both looking calm. "I'm going now. Tell me when you have your shit straight." She walked out and heard her whistling down the stairs.

"I think something's wrong with Annie," Peter whispered to Sirius, who nodded slightly. But they had more important things to think of. The match was next week, and they had magic to work.

* * *

Match day came incredibly fast. Soon, the Gryffindor team found themselves in the change rooms. Sirius was pacing in front of the team. "So we lost last year. The Slytherins mocked us up until now for losing to Hufflepuffs, but that was their biggest mistake. Am I right?" Sirius asked, and the room erupted into cheers. "We will go out there and show them who's boss! They will regret the day that they insulted us!" The team cheered, and they walked out into the sun. The Slytherin team had no changes to their lineup, but it looked like they had grown a foot since their last match.

"AND OUT COME THE TEAMS! THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM! CAPTAIN AND BEATER, SIRIUS BLACK! HIS FELLOW BEATER, HEART! CHASERS, MACULA, BAINES, AND BENICE! SEEKER, POTTER! AND KEEPER, ZELAN!" Remus shouted into a purple megaphone. "THE SLYTHERIN TEAM! CAPTAIN MATT SOLAR AND HIS FELLOW CHASERS, WATERHOUSE AND LUZE! THE BEATERS, OCTEL AND CHEVRON! THEIR SEEKER, SCOTFORD! AND KEEPER, NORTON!" Cheers erupted in the stands, but it seemed more Ravenclaws cheered on the Gryffindor team then usual. "THE CAPTAINS SHAKE HANDS, AND THE GAME BEGINS!"

James flew around to cheers in the crowd, searching for the Snitch. The game was like a dozen red and green blurs.

"AND NORTON HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!" Remus shouted. "THE MATCH HAS BARELY BEEN TWO MINUTES AND THE SNITCH HAS BEEN SEEN! THIS MAY BE A SHORT MATCH, PEOPLE! AND NOW POTTER IS FLYING AFTER NORTON... OCTEL HITS A BLUDGER TOWARDS NORTON! I THINK HE'S A BIT CONFUSED- NORTON PULLS UP JUST IN TIME! POTTER GETS HIT!"

"_James_!" two voices screamed from the crowd, as well as several shouts of Prongs, Jamie, and Potter as James fought to stay on his broom. Annie looked around and saw one of from Lily, and she smiled, but her stomach dropped when she saw Ada screaming and crying hysterics over James. Sirius saw the same thing and frowned.

"POTTER HAS REGAINED CONTROL OF HIS BROOM!" Remus said. Sirius looked to see if Ada was happy, but she looked venomous. Confused, he went back to playing, but he knew he had to tell the group later what he saw. "SLYTHERIN IN IN POSSESION! WATERHOUSE TO LUZE, LUZE TO WATERHOUSE, WATERHOUSE BACK TO LUZE- LUZE DIVES, TAKES A SHOT-" the pitched groaned. "AND SCORES. SLYTHEIRN LEAD TEN TO ZERO. GRYFFINDOR IN POSSESION. MACULA HAS THE QUAFFLE. MACULA PASSES TO BAINES, TO BENICE, WHO DODGES A BLUDGER FROM CHEVRON! BENICE PASSES BACK TO BAINES, WHO THROWS IT TO MACULA! MACULA PASSES- INTERCEPTED BY SOLAR! SOLAR HAS THE QUAFFLE- HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM HEART! HE DROPS THE QUAFFLE! BENICE GRABS IT. SHE SOARS TO THE SLYTHERIN GOAL POSTS, SHOOTS AND SCORES!" Remus did a whoop of joy as the stadium cheered. "AND I BELIEVE NORTON HAS SEEN THE SNITCH AGAIN! POTTER FLIES AFTER HIM!"

"Sirius!" April shouted to Sirius. "Aim a Bludger at Norton from above so he won't see if coming!"

"You got it, babe!" Sirius said. He flew off, leaving a puzzled April.

"IT POTTER AND NORTON ARE NECK IN NECK... BLACK SHOOTS A BLUDGER TOWARDS THEM! NORTON PULLS BACK TO AVOID IT, POTTER THRUSTS FORWARD- AND THE SNITCH IS CAUGHT!" The stands erupted into cheers. "GRYFFINDOR WIN, ONE-SIXTY TO TEN!"

The team flew to the ground as people ran out onto the pitch. Lily started jumping up and down screaming with joy. May and April were hugging. Sirius was screaming about his revenge being succesfull. Annie and James were no where to be seen. Remus and Peter were leading the victory party back to the Common Room. Lily hugged Sirius and the two walked up to the Common Room, forgetting about James because the match was just that awesome- and then Remus kissed May in front of everyone.

Annie was sitting in the change rooms, staring at something in her hand. It was a silver chain that looks worse for wear. She had found it on the pitch as she landed. The stone, she couldn't find. She wasn't surprised about that, but she hadn't seen the chain for a year. It brought back all sorts of memories. Then she heard something outside the change rooms.

"I was really worried about you, James," a girl said in a high pitched voice.

"You shouldn't be, I'm fine!" James said brightly. "But thanks for your concern, Ada." Annie froze and stopped moving to listen more intently.

"But I still did..." Annie heard sobs and hiccuping. "I'm so silly."

"No you're not..." James said calmly.

"I like you a lot, James..." Ada said in a quiet voice. "But I'm so stupid! You don't like me..."

Annie was confused. How did Ada get 'I don't like you' from 'No you're not silly'?

"I like you!" James said. "As a-" Annie clenched her fist as she heard lots of moaning. She walked out of the change rooms and ran right into Ada forcing herself onto James.

"Hey Annie!" James said brightly. Ada glared at Annie.

"Want to tell her the news?" Ada asked brightly. James looked lost. Ada turned to Annie. "We're dating now!" she said brightly, but she sent Annie a threat with her eyes.

"Huh?" James asked. Ada broke down into tears again and Annie had to hold back a groan.

"You hate me!" Ada started screaming.

"I don't hate you! But I like you as a-" James found himself being kissed by Ada. A bit later, after dropping Ada off at her Common Room, James and Annie walked in the hall. "You have to help me," he said.

"Just dump her!" Annie exclaimed. "Or tell the truth, since you aren't really dating."

"I tried doing that! But she just starts crying!" James ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't want to hurt her feelings!"

Annie rubbed her arm, nervous. "But you're hurting her by lying to her!"

"No... I will make myself like her if it's the last thing I do!" James said. "I don't want to break her heart..." James walked ahead, but Annie stayed behind, tears in her eyes whispering something she knew he wouldn't hear.

"But you're breaking Lily's."

* * *

WHY DIDN'T I UPDATE FOR LIKE, THREE MONTHS?

Because a few reasons. One, my computer took a while to come and I started this chapter on my mom's new laptop. Then I got mine and tried to transfer it, and found my laptop didn't come with Word. So I couldn't continue it, unless I used wordpad. I HATE wordpad. So I refused to use it. I asked my mom to NOT delete the saved files on her computer and I waited until I got Word. I eventually got word and installed it, and then I went to go find the file on my mom's computer. SHE DELETED IT. GAH. So I got really pissed because I wrote like half of it on her computer, and I didn't want to restart. But I did anyways, eventually. Sorry for the delay. This chapter was hard for me. I guess I'm trying to make it more mature, I guess, close up some plot holes, fix some things, which I will be working on for the next few weeks. Mainly just fixing plot holes in previous chapters. Some, like Annie's necklace, will be solved in later chapters. But I will try to fix as much as I can.

Yes, Remus and May are back together. They won't be as lovey-dovey as before, because in my mind, that's was kinda ruined them. And Snape's FUCKING BLACKMAILING Annie into doing what he wants? HOLY CRAP! NEW STORY ARC THAT DOESN'T SUCK!  
I originally planned for April to be blackmailed but it makes more sense for Annie to, because she's maturing and before, felt pity for Snape. But now she really hates him.

Review time!

junebugbug96: Thanks! Sorry about the wait. I've had an ordeal. And yeah, they are unexpected, aren't they? Annie's just perceptive because since she had to deal with some pretty mature things at such a young age, she matured a lot on some things. Oh, and she just cares a lot about James.

.limits111: You'll find out who bruised Annie in the next chapter, actually. And it wasn't them, they already graduated. But good guess with Bellatrix, though. (Bellatrix is Annie's arch nemesis) Yes, I want them together soon to! But Ada just had to force herself in there. I didn't even create her! I came back from my shower and the page was open, with half of it written with Ada in it (I'm completely joking). Ada is set after a girl I know, actually. XP

chocopaisley61: Yes, they really do seem to enjoy plotting! And maybe Reg and Annie will be together, maybe not! And yeah, he does have a heart. *Insert How the Grinch Stole X-Mas joke here about his heart growing three sizes*

Anonymous: Maybe, maybe not. You're forgetting Sirius' overprotective nature!

Book-Mania-Girl520: Awweh. Thank you! :D I try to update fast, but that sometimes doesn't happen... Oh well.

Also, I know SOOO many people will try to analyze what Snape said and get the wrong idea... But tell me your analysis, people, if you do, in a review, in you want. I want to see if I'm obvious.

Read and Review, loves!

This is 26, signing off.


	25. Shut up, Sirius!

"Pay attention, Lily!" James said, snapping his fingers in front of Lily's face. It was nearing the end of November, and work had become increasingly difficult for the seventh-years. Patrols seemed to stretch out forever and thanks to Tiana Smithson, the Prefect meetings took forever as well. It was a late Tuesday night, after patrol, and they were trying to get some work done.

"Sorry James," said Lily, and she yawned. "I'm just so tired lately. Homework's really got me drained."

"Then take a break!" James exclaimed.

Lily rolled her eyes at this. "Then all I'd do is worry about the work I could be doing."

"Lily, how many essays do we have due in the next two weeks?" James asked, smirking.

"Four," Lily said, not knowing what James was getting at.

"How many are you done?"

"Three…" Lily blushed. "But the last one is for Transfiguration!"

"It's for the Friday after next- work on it on the weekend. Or even tomorrow."

"But what will I do _now_?" Lily asked, pouting.

James jumped up. "Come with me!"

"What?" Lily asked.

"You're coming with me and I will make you relax!" James exclaimed. "Go get dressed in warmer clothes, because there's no way the rest of this castle is as warm as this place."

Red nodded from her painted landscape. "I see students run in the halls to try and keep warm," she chimed in. Lily ran upstairs to grab her sweater when she noticed a small envelope on her bed. She picked it up and opened it, recognizing a slightly altered line from a favourite story of hers.

'_Tis torture, not mercy. Heaven is here, where Lily lives,  
And every Marauder, every unworthy thing,  
Live here in heaven and may look on her,  
But the Half-Blood-Prince may not._

Lily sat down on her bed and held the parchment in her hand. She was shocked at it. Did an owl leave it there? She saw no marks to suggest it. "And you, Valen?" she asked, picking up the brown cat. "Did you see anything?" the cat meowed at her in response. Lily smiled and put her down on her pillow. She made a mental note to go tell April, Alice and May about the note, and to owl June about it if she didn't see her at the next meal.

"Lily? You coming?" James asked, knocking on the door.

"Oh, yeah!" Lily pulled a sweater over her head and opened her door. James was right there, holding a large cloak.

"Let's go!" James said. He led Lily down the stairs and out the Common Room door. As Red swung shut, he stopped Lily. "Stand close to me, okay?"

"Why-" The rest of Lily's question was blocked out by James throwing the cloak around them, and over their heads. "I can see through the cloak, James," she whispered.

"Congrats, your eyes are working," James mumbled. "This way," he said, leading Lily down a flight of stairs.

"You have an Invisibility Cloak!" Lily said, awed. "How did you get it?"

"My dad gave it to me before I started school. It's been in my family for _ages_." James said, and he smiled. "You might as well know how we are able to move along without being seen since I don't think we're in the pranking business anymore."

"Is it your plan just to reveal all the Marauder secrets to me today?" Lily teased.

"Not _all_ of them," James said seriously. "I'm saving some for the next time you almost have a meltdown."

"I was not close to having a meltdown."

"Oh yes, you were." James said. The two argued playfully all the way down to the basement. James took the cloak off the two and Lily saw what was in front of them- a giant painting of a fruit bowl.

"That was anti-climactic," Lily said, and James held up a hand. He tickled the pear. Lily watched as it turned into a doorknob. James opened the portrait to reveal hundreds of House-Elves wandering around inside.

"I present to you, the Hogwarts kitchens!" James said elaborately, grabbing Lily's hand and leading her inside. "These little guys can do anything. Go on, ask them for something."

"Can I have some brownies and some pumpkin juice?" Lily asked the nearest House-Elf. He bowed and ran off, returning, with two other elves, carrying a huge tray of brownies and a fourth elf carried a jug of pumpkin juice. James led them to a clear wall in the back. He sat against it and took the tray and the jug, waving his wand, so a small table would be there for the tray and jug to sit on. Lily sat against the wall as well.

"This is nice," Lily remarked. "Is this where you get some of the food for the Quidditch After-Parties?"

"No, I get that from another source. You won't find that out until your N.E.W.T. meltdown," James teased. He took a brownie and nibbled on it. Lily waved her wand and made two glasses appear. She filled one with pumpkin juice and handed the empty one to James.

"Thanks," James smiled.

"Are you planning on taking Ada here?" Lily asked.

"Ada?" James repeated.

"Your girlfriend?" Lily asked. "She's been going on about this huge special date that you're raving about to her and only her."

"When did you hear about this?" James asked.

"Well, I first heard it from Moaning Myrtle-"

"Who?"

"A girl who haunts a toilet," Lily answered. "She asked me if I was going to ramble about huge cherry-popping dates or something. Apparently you're planning to sleep with Ada on that date. So I asked her who would do that, and she told me how Ada was bragging to her friends that her first would be James Potter. And then, yesterday, I heard it in the bathroom, and Ada was asking some girl for some makeup advice for the big-cherry-popping date."

James burst out laughing. "I'm not planning on sleeping with Ada!"

"That would make Kenny happy," Lily said.

"Kenny?" James asked, curious.

"Kenny Sondra. He totally has a crush on Ada. He broke up with me for her, because he didn't want to hurt me," Lily said calmly. "He's always glaring at you lately."

"But I thought that he was with a blonde at the dance," James said to himself out loud.

"The dance in fifth year?" Lily asked. James nodded. Lily sighed. "So that's where he went..." she sniffled. "He left for such a long time and I went to find you, and when I found you he appeared out of no where..." Lily fell quiet. James munched happily on brownies when he noticed several of the House-Elves glaring at him. One pointing to James, and then pointed to Lily. James turned to Lily and found that she was crying.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"I can't believe he would just... cheat on me while we were still together!" Lily sobbed. James sat there, awkward. Lily continued to sob, and James felt his heart break in two. Lily looked up at him, eyes red and puffy. "Am I ugly, James?" she asked.

James stared at her. "Are you kidding?" James asked in reply. "You're stunning! Even when your eyes are red and your nose is running you're extremely pretty, Lily. Not every girl could look good while crying, but you, you can do a sort of sexy cry," James teased to try and make Lily smile. It succeeded in the way that she giggled a little.

"Then why would Kenny cheat on me?"

"Because he goes for obnoxious sluts," James replied.

"That makes Ada an obnoxious slut..." Lily mumbled.

James put his hand under Lily's chin and turned her face to face his. "Maybe he glares at me because he realizes what a moron he was for ditching you, and I get to spend all sorts of time with you." Lily gave James a bright smile and hugged him. James hugged her back tightly. When James released her, he asked, "Does this give me permission to whoop his ass?" he asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "_James_!"

"I'm just kidding!" James said, holding his hands in front of him in defence. "But Sirius might actually do it since you're friends now. So I suggest keeping it on the down low."

Lily smiled at James. "Thanks, James."

"Anytime, Lily." James smiled back at Lily. He felt his face grow hot and he coughed. "Should we be heading back now? Are you okay with that?"

"Sure," Lily said. The two got up and made it back to their Common Room without any mishaps. In between their two staircases, Lily stopped. "You're a good person, James. Ada's a lucky girl." Lily leaned over and kissed James on the cheek before making her way up the stairs. James walked calmly into his room before flipping out and doing a victory dance- and then he was reminded of the mess that was Ada.

* * *

"You did _what_?" April shrieked at Lily the next day. After classes, Lily dragged her friends to the Head's Common Room (including June) and ordered Red not to let anybody in, even James. She proceded to tell them about the adventure that she and James had the night before.

"I kissed him on the cheek!" Lily exclaimed.

"You like him!" June yelled.

"I do not!" Lily protested. "I mean, Annie kisses him on the cheek!"

"But they're like, brother and sister, Lily," Alice said, playing with her hair. "You two are definitely _not_ brother and sister."

"Oh shut up," May snapped at Alice. "Lily, did you.. feel a fuzzy feeling in your stomach?"

"Yes, whenever I-" Lily stopped. "No! I refuse to believe that I have a crush on him. It cannot be done!"

"But you _did_ feel fuzzy around him?" May pestered. "Sorry Lily, you definitely like him."

"I do _not_!"

June rolled her eyes. "Lily, stop being so ADHD. Stop changing your mind!"

"Psh. Tell that to May, Miss I-Like-Remus-All-Over-Again!" Lily said, and May blushed. "I guess seeing what a hot commodity he was helped your decision, huh?" Lily teased.

"It did not!" May said, but she blushed further. April cackled with laughter.

"It was Annie insulting you to oblivion, I bet!" April said. "Made you think, right?"

Lily turned to April, confused. "When did Annie insult May into oblivion? Why didn't I hear about it?"

"Oh, it was a small fight. Started out with homework help and snowballed into a fight about whose rune translations were more accurate," Alice said, waving a hand, while shooting April a warning glare.

Lily nodded, and then she remembered something. "Guys, stay right there!" She ran upstairs and grabbed the note, before running back down the stairs and handing it to Alice, who read it. Her eyebrows spiked into her hairline and she passed the note to June, before staring at Lily.

"Where did you get that?" Alice asked. "And _who_ did you get it from?"

"I don't know!" Lily said, sitting down. "I found it on my pillow yesterday."

June, passing the note to May, asked, "Do you think an owl brought it?"

"Didn't see any little foot prints," Lily said, and she shook her head.

"Maybe the owl just dropped it," June said.

"My window was closed."

"Maybe it Apparated."

"Owls can't Apparate!" Lily protested.

May looked up. "Maybe somebody found out the password and snuck it in. Ask Red, I'll try to see if I recognize the handwriting."

"Red..." Lily said. The girl in the portrait turned around.

"Calm your horses, I heard!" Red said. "I didn't let anybody in besides the usual."

"Maybe somebody flew up to your window, opened it with magic, climbed in, put the note on your pillow and climbed back out, closing the window behind him!" April said. "Isn't that romantic?"

"More like stalkerish, April," said June, and she rolled her eyes. "Whoever wrote that really has it out for the Marauders."

"It's an altered line from _Romeo and Juliet_, by Shakespeare," Lily said. "He's an old famous Muggle writer, he wrote plays in the eighteenth century or something."

"Isn't _Romeo and Juliet_ one of your favorite plays?" Alice asked. Lily nodded. "Whoever wrote it seemed to know you pretty well."

"Again, sweet or CREEPY?" June asked. "Either Lily is being crushed on seriously by somebody or somebody is stalking her."

Lily rested her chin on her knees. "But I think it's sweet, comparing me to Juliet."

"Yeah, both were morons," June muttered to Alice, who nodded. Their plan was going horribly wrong.

* * *

The group met again a few days later while James and Lily were out on patrol.

"So, we need to take serious action," Annie said, being filled in on what happened with Lily and her reaction to it. "One, we need to break up James and Ada. And two, we _have_ to stop the creepy stalker, or at least convince Lily that the person is no good for her."

"How are we going to do that, though?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, Prongsie is too afraid of hurting Ada," chimed in Sirius.

April sighed, rubbing her temples. "I think the best way to convince Lily that the stalker is no good for her is waiting for another note. Then we'll do it- once, sorta understandable, but breaking and entering twice is creepy."

"But we still don't know how they got in!" Remus said. "Maybe Red lied."

"Why would she lie, though? I doubt she would have," May sighed. "Besides, she's a portrait. I don't think they can."

"But about James and Ada," Sirius said. "We need to get her un-interested in James and interested in somebody else."

"Yeah..." Alice mumbled.

"And for that, we need some sort of super casa-nova..." Sirius continued. Everybody else looked at each other and to Sirius. Sirius looked at them. "Oh, no. I am not doing it! What if she becomes crazy infatuated with me?"

"It'll give you a one-up in Valentine's Day cards," Annie pointed out.

"Please, Padfoot!" Peter pleaded.

"It's for James, Padfoot," said Remus calmly.

"Please, Sirius?" May asked, giving him puppy-dog eyes. June nodded, pouting.

"I beg of you, Sirius..." Alice said.

"Please, Sirius!" Annie exclaimed, taking his hand.

Sirius sat, thinking.

"James is your best friend, Sirius. He would do the same for you. Please, help him be happy," pleaded April. Sirius sighed dramatically.

"_Fine_!" He exclaimed. "I'll see what I can do, so we can get to Phase Three, which is well on its way."

"Oh god, don't remind us," Remus groaned.

"What happened?" Peter and Annie asked, who were both considerately out of the loop.

"Lily kissed Prongsie on the cheek! He got on his mirror and started screaming about it and woke us all up, and then he ran over here and woke us up more by screaming about it more," Sirius explained. "But that's not important now! Now, I have a girl to snog, and a couple to break up, and a girl to convince about a stalker!"

"I think you should wait until talking to Lily about the notes," May said. Sirius looked at her.

"Oh, no, Mary MacDonald is being stalked by some creeper offering gossip about some of the school's mega-people in return for favors. I'm going to tell her to stop, because the gossip in this school spreads like wildfire."

"I don't know if I should be worried or relieved," Annie whispered to Peter, who nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Oh, god.." Annie said, running through the halls. It was the 3rd of December, and she was currently late for Runes because she had run into Lily in the library at lunch. Thankfully, she hadn't gotten a new note yet. "I don't want to be late- oof!" she fell backwards.

"Watch where you're going-!" Regulus Black turned to her. "Oh- Hi." He offered her a hand, but she brushed it off. "I never got a chance to apologize, Anne..."

"Don't call me Anne." Annie snapped.

"But Sirius-"

"Sirius ran into a Death Eater attack to save my life. When you do that, you can call me Anne," Annie said coolly. "And what are you apologizing for? Nearly stalking me, coming on to me late at night, switching all your classes to match mine or having the gall to think that I would go out with you after you insulted me for our entire first and second years?"

Regulus rubbed the back of his neck. "None of those- Uh, I'm sorry about Thor punching you a while ago."

"Oh yes, apologizing for Thor Popo, the troll who can't string two words together without assistance," Annie rolled her eyes.

"I told him that I liked you and he thought that if he punched you and I stopped him it might help you, uh, like me," Regulus said, and he blushed.

"The Egyptian sun god Ra will turn into a flying goat and pig hybrid before I will go out with you!" Annie snapped.

"Can I at least help you with your bag?" Regulus pointed to Annie's bag, which was dripping with ink. Annie sighed.

"Fine, whatever," she said, handing Regulus her bag.

Regulus muttered a few spells, pointing his wand at her bag, and it cleaned up. "Here you go," he said. Annie took it.

"Thanks," she said begrudgingly. "Why aren't you in class?"

"I decided to switch out," Regulus smiled dryly. "Maybe stalking isn't the best way to win a girl's heart."

"It isn't!" Annie snapped, and she walked off quickly before giving Regulus a second glance.

Regulus stared after her, bewildered about her reaction. "What did I say?"

* * *

"Jamie!" Ada squealed. James was eating supper with Lily and Sirius when Ada ran up from behind him. From down the table, Remus and May rolled their eyes and Peter, who was eating with the couple, mimed gagging into his sheperd's pie.

"Hey, Ada..." James said, without any enthusiasm at all. Learning that Ada was expecting James to sleep with her was enough, but he had no idea how to pull it together and break up with her. She was more annoying then Stinksap to him.

Lily made a face to Sirius when Ada started kissing James. Sirius let out a bark of laughter. Ada turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" she said slowly, hands on her hips.

"I was simply noticing how cute of a couple you are. It filled me to the brim of ecstasy and I just had to laugh to get it all out!" Sirius said dramatically. Lily rolled her eyes as Ada smiled and giggled at this.

"Ohh!" She said. "Well- Thanks, then, Sirius!" she giggled again before dragging James out of the hall, despite that fact that he was clearly unhappy.

"I swear to god, that girl's only two main actions are giggling and being an airhead!" Lily said.

"Does she annoy you that much?" Sirius asked, curious. He felt a devious plan coming into shape.

"Yes!" Lily exclaimed. "She sticks to him like glue, and I have to deal with her trilling on about their baby making all the time!"

"Do you know if they actual have tried making a baby so far-" Sirius tried asking, before he got a face-full of pumpkin juice from Lily's spit-take.

"Sirius, how the hell would I know?" she asked, angry.

"Noises," Sirius replied, and he changed the subject to avoid getting murdered. "So if she annoys you that much, why don't you get an annoying boyfriend? Just date him for a while until Prongs gets annoyed, too."

"Sirius, that is a horrible plan!" Lily exclaimed. "A horrible plan, but one that could work! Who's the most annoying guy in our grade?"

"Kenny Sondra?"

"_No_."

"Okay.. Uh... Justin Ryam?" Sirius asked. Justin Ryam was an extremely annoying boy. He was in the Gobstones club, and often stalked various girls.

Lily made a face. "Uh- fine..." she groaned. She got up and walked down to the Ravenclaw table.

"Where's Lily going?" Annie asked, as she was walking by.

"To ask out Justin Ryam," Sirius said, and Annie sat down, jaw dropping, and with a panicked expression on her face.

"What? _Why_?" she demanded.

"To make Prongs jealous," Sirius replied.

"You were supposed to hit on Ada so she'll dump James, not get Lily a boyfriend!" Annie hissed, gripping Sirius' arm, her hair getting a red tinge. "Now we have another couple to break up! Great going, you dingbat!" She looked around the hall nervously. "Look, I need to go... Go tell the others your latest muck-up." Smacking Sirius upside the head, she got up. She walked quickly out of the hall, at the same time that Lily and Justin got up from the Ravenclaw table and left. Snape followed as well.

Remus, May and Peter all slid down their benches. "What was that all about?" Remus asked.

"I may have gotten Lily a boyfriend..." Sirius mumbled.

"Why would you even think about doing that?" May hissed.

"I was going along the lines of annoying Prongs, so he might take his frustration out on Ada, so she would be easier to manipulate," Sirius said quietly.

"_Why_?" Peter asked. "Prongs and Lily are probably so close, Ada might be jealous and already easy enough for you!"

Sirius looked around the table. "Look, I fucked up again, can we please move on to the next point of breaking both of them up?"

Remus and May looked at each other, and then at Peter. "We're going to the Library. Maybe we can find something interesting in there to help us..." Remus replied. "Coming, Wormtail?"

"And listen to you two snog?" Peter asked. "No thank you."

"We won't snog!" May defended, blushing. "Promise."

"Fine, then." Peter got up with Remus and May.

"Wait, guys!" Sirius exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Just- just don't do anything," May said, before the three walked away. Sirius sighed, as April walked into the Great Hall. She sat down across from Sirius.

"I hear you got Lily a boyfriend," April said.

Sirius groaned. "Can we please not talk about this?"

"I'm not going to bother you about it, I think maybe everybody's already done that," April replied calmly. She started to eat.

"April?"

"What?"

"Why did you become my friend again?"

April put her fork down, and Sirius watched as she stared into space thinking for quite some time. She shrugged. "'Dunno. Does it matter now?"

"I think everybody hates me."

"They don't hate you, they're probably just tired because of NEWTs," April said, shrugging again.

"And Anne?"

"Annie's been going out a lot at night lately, I don't think she's got the most sleep," April answered. "Just stop worrying about it. Nobody hates you, except for the Slytherins, and they're all pricks anyway so it doesn't count."

"She's been sneaking out?"

"Yeah, I can hear her fumble down the stairs," April said, and she began to demonstrate it with her food. "She always jumps the last two stairs of every staircase, and sometimes she messes up and starts swearing. It's really easily to tell that its her. No other girl uses the descriptive expletives that she does."

Sirius laughed, and then the two of them fell quiet.

"April?" he asked, after a while.

"What?" she asked back, looking up.

Sirius got up, grabbing his bag. "Thanks." When April didn't reply, he rolled his eyes. "You normally put in an 'anytime' or something in when people thank you, you know."

"Yeah, but I don't want to go through this bout of you pitying yourself again," April said, and she smirked. "Happy-go-lucky Sirius is annoying enough."

"Hey!"

"Just shut up, Sirius."

* * *

Oh my god. It's been months, right?

No excuse for it, really. Grade ten's a bitch, though. xD And I've been tired lately.

Oh, and I kept on trying to drag on this chapter when I realized today, like three minutes ago, "HEY. ITS LONG ENOUGH."  
I have half a mind to scrap the entire thing and work on something less nonsensical. And better written. Cause the first few chapters = PAINFUL TO READ.

Review time:

.limits111: I'm trying to keep it up. School's hard. xD But yes, Ada's a bitch. We all hate her.

hpfan: Hmm, I can't really say anything about what you asked. But you can rest easy- Owen will be happy in the end. How he gets there is another can of fish.

A La DarkAngel: Well, here you go. Jealousy times a thousand.

This is 26, signing off.


	26. Stalkers and Confusion

"Another one?" Alice asked, looking over her Herbology book. Lily had just run into their dorm room, waving a piece of paper like it had caught on fire. There were two Aprils, one holding clothes up to the other. The one holding clothes rolled her eyes to May, who laughed from her bed.

"Yep!" Lily said, and she held it out to May. She then looked at the April who was standing there. "Annie?"

"Yep!" Annie replied, and Lily was relieved to hear that she still had her own voice.

May finished reading the note. "He's unbelievably bold, this stalker of yours," she remarked, handing it to Alice, who scanned it.

"Yeah, he is. This is the third one, Lily, I don't think this is good," Alice said, handing it to April. She read it, made a face, and offered it to Annie- who didn't take it, and instead looked in slight disgust at the outfit April held up to her.

April shrugged, and she went over to a wall, taking out her wand and applying a Sticking Charm to make it stick. Lily could see the two others. The first, she had gotten when she went to the kitchens with James, the second was a day after she started dating Justin Ryam. It had been two weeks since then, and it didn't seem to be stopping the stalker at all.

_'Tis torture, not mercy. Heaven is here, where Lily lives,  
And every Marauder, every unworthy thing,  
Live here in heaven and may look on her,  
But the Half-Blood-Prince may not._

_He jest at scars that never felt a wound,  
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?  
It is the east, and Lily is the sun.  
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,  
who is already sick and pale with grief  
That thou her maid art far more fair than she._

And now, put up beneath the second, read another excerpt. This one was written in a faster scrawl, as if the writer was in an enormous rush while writing it.

_O Lily, Lily! wherefore art thou Muggleborn?  
Deny thy father and refuse thy blood!  
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,  
And I'll no longer be the Half-Blood Prince._

"This Half-Blood Prince guy seems to be a little obsessed with you, Lily," April remarked.

"You have no idea…" Annie mumbled, though nobody heard.

"It's kind of sweet," Lily said, smiling.

"He's comparing you to Juliet- any guy and every guy who ever wants to be a sketchball will do that," Alice said.

"A sketchball?" Lily asked, and she looked at Alice. "What the heck is a sketchball?"

"You know when a place could be sketchy?" April asked, holding up another dress to Annie, who turned a deep red when she saw it. "It's like that, only but with a sketchy person. A sketchball is like that, but even worse- oh, buck up, Annie!" she exclaimed, brandishing the dress at her.

"It barely covers any skin!" Annie protested. "It shows more than it covers!"

April rolled her eyes. "Look, I just need help choosing what I want for a date, okay?" she said, exasperated. "Just try the damn dress on!"

Annie glared at April. "Fine!" she exclaimed, grabbing it and storming into the bathroom. Her anger seemed to be unnoticed by Lily, however.

"The Half-Blood Prince is definitely not Justin," she said. "Or any of the Marauders- Remus is with May and Peter isn't romantic in the slightest. It could be one of those Hufflepuff boys from the lake, what were their names?" she asked.

"I forgot," May said. "Why do you want to find out who he is, anyway?" she asked. "It's creepy."

"He's sweet!" Lily snapped.

"No, Lily," April said firmly. "He's creepy. This guy has been breaking into your dorm, or flying up to your window, or something- please, Lily, be more careful about this sort of thing!"

Lily crossed her arms. "And what the hell are you talking about by that?" she asked.

"You're so inexperienced with romance, you tend to fall for any guy that shows you any genuine display of affection, whether you liked him before or not," May answered.

"No I don't, with Ja-"

"James doesn't count because his displays of affection tended to involve the pain of other people," May added.

Lily fell quiet, deciding not to bother getting into the matter any further. "Fine..." she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Speaking of James, how are Head Duties coming along?" April asked.

"Oh, they're good," Lily said, suddenly beaming. "I mean, sometimes Ada tags along because she's a stupid bitch, but otherwise, it's okay!"

"Beating on the Co's girlfriend I see," Alice teased, grinning. "Classy."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not like he sees her enough during the day- except for almost his every waking moment! I barely have time to talk to him privately!"

Annie walked out of the bathroom, still looking like April and in the ridiculous dress. "Why would you want to talk to him in private?" she asked, curious. April ran over to her and began to turn her around, to see how it would look on herself.

Lily flushed. "N-Nothing like that!" she snapped.

"Then like what?" April teased. "Oh, decided to be a two-timer, huh?" She ducked when Lily threw a shoe at her head.

"I am not a two-timer!" Lily snapped. "If I did feel that way, for James, which I really _don't_, then I would break up with Justin because I have no feelings for him at all!"

"Then why not dump him now?" May asked, and Lily sighed.

"Because James hasn't dumped Ada!" she exclaimed. "The whole point of this was to make James as annoyed with Justin as I am with Ada!"

"Well, maybe he hasn't dumped Ada yet because he wants to annoy you with her because you're annoying him with Justin," Annie offered, and she paused. "Thinking about that makes my brain hurt..." she groaned, going back into the bathroom to change.

Lily paused. "Maybe..." she began to think, and then she looked at her watch. "Oh, I need to go meet Justin!" she exclaimed. "Bye, guys!"

April sighed when the door slammed shut, sitting down on May's bed. "This plan is going horribly, horribly wrong."

May sighed as well. "Well, we can't give up now."

Annie came out of the bathroom, dressed in her robes and looking like herself- mind you, a blonde version of herself. She handed the dress to April, before saying, "Our damage has been dealt. We can't undo it now," she put her hands in her pockets. "I'm going to go... See you guys." She left the room slowly, shuffling her feet even.

"Fuck, that was a downer," April remarked.

"She's kind of right, though," May pointed out.

"Shut up, May," Alice groaned. "I'm tired of this either Happy-Go-Lucky or Depressed bullshit! Not just with Annie, but its been with Sirius and Frank and Lily and James and god knows who else!"

May sighed. "Well, we need to do something about it," she said.

April nodded. "The thing is, what?"

* * *

Lily walked down the hallways. It was freakishly early in the morning, on the 18th of December, and she felt like going for a walk. It was an odd sort of morning- very bright, but extremely cold. She could see the sun rising up out of one window, and she stopped there for a while, looking out of it. Soon, however, she felt like she should return to her Common Room. One turn before she got there, however, she heard loud voices and giggles.

"Shh!"

"Nobody's awake, relax!"

"Isn't the Head's Place somewhere around here?"

"Fuck, I don't know!"

Lily hurried around the corner to see Justin Ryam and a Hufflepuff girl leaning on the wall next to Red (who thankfully was sleeping). For a few seconds, she didn't say anything, until they noticed her. The girl reddened, but Justin only stepped away from the girl like it was nothing. "What the hell?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Fuck, what does it look like?" Justin asked. "I was getting to first base with her."

Lily glared at him. "Merlin, you don't even try to cover it up, do you?" she asked. "Because, you know, I'm your girlfriend."

"Well, you were just using me to annoy Potter, so why the flying fuck should I bother caring about your feelings?" Justin asked angrily. When she heard this, Lily froze.

"How did you know?" Lily whispered.

"Things get around, Lily," Justin replied. "Now, can you leave, I'm kind of busy!" He wrapped an arm around the Hufflepuff

Lily was about to snap back at him to tell him to leave when the portrait hole creaked open. The three of them turned rapidly to see James looking out of the portrait hole, rubbing one of his eyes. "Oi, can you all be quiet? I'm trying to sle-" he broke off, seeing Justin, the Hufflepuff, and Lily. Lily saw his brain put two and two together. He then stumbled from the portrait, glaring at Justin. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked with a snarl.

"Oh gee, Lily, mission accomplished," Justin said with an eye roll. He looked at James. "I'm snogging this girl, what the hell does it look like I'm doing?"

"Looks like you're cheating on your girlfriend!" James snapped.

"Pft. She's not my girlfriend anymore," Justin snapped back. "Come on, Honey, let's go," he said, grabbing Honey's elbow and leading her away, and they could hear the two of them talking and giggling down the hallway. Lily stood there in silence, shocked.

"Damn, you have a bad track record with guys..." James remarked. "You tend to fall for the assholes, huh?" he asked. Lily nodded slightly.

"I guess..." she mumbled, but Lily knew it was her own fault for trying to use a guy for her own needs- a stuck up, girl-obsessed guy nonetheless. Suddenly, she felt something very warm around her, and it took her a moment to see that James was hugging her.

"I know you've only been dating for a while," he whispered to her, "But it probably still hurts."

Lily nodded again, and then she wrapped her arms around James' neck, burying her head into his chest. They stood there for a while, not saying anything- simply holding onto one another. Then, James let out a small, "Lily?"

"Mm?" Lily asked, looking up at James.

"We should go into the Common Room," he whispered. "We can talk in there, okay?" he added, and he looked down at Lily. Lily blushed, realizing how unbelievably close they were. She could move an inch and end up kissing him. She noticed with a small smile that James was blushing enormously as well. "Lily..." he said quietly, and then they could hear a loud burst of footsteps, followed by yet another loud burst of footsteps, followed by a third series of footsteps- though albeit, much, much slower. Lily and James turned to see who it was, and Lily immediately let go of James, taking a few steps back to see Ada, and then oddly enough, Regulus, and then Owen.

"Jamie!" Ada shrieked loudly, going over to the two of them. "What the hell are you doing!

"I was-" James started, but Ada cut him off.

"Shut up!" she screamed. "I worked too hard to find out from those two idiots that she was making a move on you the minute her boyfriend broke up with her!"

"Black and Owen?" James asked, and the two boys, who were obviously bickering with each other in low voices, stopped. "What the fuck?" he said out loud out of confusion, and Lily was wondering this as well.

"We were just-" Owen started, but Regulus elbowed him in the stomach, making the other boy flinch, despite being taller and looking much stronger than Regulus.

"I was sneaking around the school, and he was doing some random crap, and we ran into one another," Regulus answered, glaring. "We saw Ryam and a girl laughing about how he just dumped her, and then how she was probably trying to hit on Potter. So then she comes around and hears us and flips out."

"That's not what happened!" Ada exclaimed, confused. "You two were arguing-"

"Shut up! Focus on him!" Owen and Regulus both snapped, and then Ada angrily turned back to James.

"I thought you loved me!" Ada whined, and James rolled his eyes.

"We dated for less than four months, how the hell could I love you?" James asked. Ada glared at the two of them.

"FINE!" she yelled, and she slapped Lily, who she was closer too. Lily stumbled backwards a few times, making Owen run over to Lily, helping her stay standing. "You're a bitch," Ada snarled. "You will remember this day as the day you signed your death..." Then, she looked at James. "It's so totally over." Then, she turned and walked off rapidly.

"Damn," James mumbled, going over to Lily. "Today isn't really the day for romance, eh?" he asked, chuckling.

Lily looked up at James. "She just threatened us with death! Aren't you worried?"

"She's all talk, no walk," Regulus growled. "I wouldn't bother worrying." Before anybody else could say anything, he left. Owen sighed, mumbling something unintelligible.

"What are you doing out at this hour, Owen?" James asked.

Owen sighed. "It's nothing. Just..." he paused. "Don't tell anybody about me being out here..." he turned and walked away as well.

"We should have given them all detentions for being out so early," Lily remarked, and James burst out laughing.

"Yeah," he agreed, grinning. "Well, come on," he said, and he began to not walk into the portrait hole, but down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked, confused, making sure that Red swung shut before running down after James.

James grinned down at Lily. "Well, you just had a small breakdown-"

"No I didn't!"

"So we're going to the kitchens," James continued, ruffling Lily's hair. "Don't worry about what anybody says, Lily," he added. "Haters gonna hate. We'll be fine."

Lily, looking up at that grin, felt as if she had to agree.

* * *

"Christmas is almost here!" Sirius exclaimed, running into the boy's dorm room. Another meeting for _Plan Get-These-Stubborn-Asses-Together _had been called, but Sirius, who was outside, was the last to get the memo- aside from Annie, who was no where to be found.

"Yes, Sirius, we know!" Alice said, leaning on Frank. April was at the blackboard, and she was in the process of checking two of the items off. "So, we all know what happened this morning, right?" Alice said for April.

"Of course we know," Remus said. "Ada was practically screeching about it in the Great Hall this morning."

"Wait, Prongs and Lily actually made out?" Sirius asked. "Then why the hell are we here?"

"They didn't make out, Padfoot," Remus answered, sighing. "Ada was being really freaking angry about it. James told me that he and Lily were hugging because of Justin breaking up with her and Ada just came around the corner, eyes flaring."

"Which reminds me," May said, looking at Sirius. "Did you tell Ada that James and Lily were out there?"

"How the hell could I have told her?" Sirius asked. "I wasn't even awake by then. She probably ran into Ryam and Honey-" Then, he laughed. "Oh, Ryam, wait until you find out what kinds of things Honey's got..." At everybody's open-mouthed gape, he raised his hands innocently. "Hey, its no secret that she's like a public loo."

"Oh, Sirius..." April mumbled, shaking her head slowly with laughter. When she recovered, she gestured to the blackboard. "So everybody knows why two and three are off now?" she asked.

Plan Get-These-Stubborn-Asses-Together

[X] 1. _Get Lily to trust James! Stop doing pranks, stop sass-talking about him, and stop jinxing random people! Get her to openly admit that she trusts him before moving on._

[X] 2. _Make sure that James does not succumb to some other girl's spells. Keep them single for as long as possible! If James gets a girl sometime during Phase One, make sure they break up. Same goes for Lily. Make sure they are comfortable being alone with each other._

[X] 3._ Once they become good friends, watch their behaviour! Is Lily blushing a lot? Is James being gentleman-like around her? Are they both defensive? If so, then make some awkward situations for them to be forced to be close together. Use a prank as a last resort!_

[ ] 4. _Wait for magic to happen. If it doesn't, then try and influence them more! Try anything and everything. Be honest about the feelings for each other- ie: Lily is in the library, talking to one of the Marauders. If James comes up, mention how he has improved (if Sirius, talk about how shameful he is being) and how glad he is to be friends with Lily- we all know he is, and visa-versa. At no point should the best friends give their friends false hope- may add cockiness._

[ ] 5_. If they still aren't together by this, intervene. Girls for Lily. Guys for James. If it fails, send in the A-Bomb- Annie, to be brutally honest to whoever if the failure is._

[ ]_ 6. Lock them in the Room of Requirement if they still aren't together. Last Resort._

"Uh, why is three off?" Peter asked.

"Because, Wormtail," Remus said patiently, "James and Lily were hugging very intimately- and then they went to the kitchens together. James came into our room afterwards and did that retard victory dance, remember?"

"Ooh," Peter said, nodding quickly. "Okay, I get it now!"

"Can we get back to the fact that Christmas is really soon?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"What about it-" April began to say, but she paused. "Oh..." she said. "Well, I know Lily's staying at school. So is May, June and I."

"Prongs, Padfoot, and I are staying, but Wormtail's got to spend more time with his family, right?" Remus asked, looking at Peter, who nodded again. "You think that we can try to pull something off during Christmas break, Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded. "DUH, mistletoe!" he exclaimed, waving his hands around. "The greatest plant in the world!" he said. "I've already started duplicating chunks of it to hang everywhere during the break!"

May stared at Sirius. "Merlin..." she mumbled, hiding her face in her hands.

"Remind me not to go anyplace that Sirius is aware of," April said to Alice, who let out a laugh.

"Yeah, I'm thanking Merlin that Mum's forcing me to come home for the holidays," Alice replied, giggling.

Frank grinned. "Amen to that, babe."

May made a face. "Well, you're lucky. I'm going to have to watch where I walk so I don't end up kissing random people."

"Okay, you're never leaving my side this break for that very reason," Remus said to May, who blushed a little. He stared at her, exclaiming, "Not like that!"

"Well, I don't have only mistletoe..." Sirius said. "We've got presents and Firewhisky and eggnog and snowball fights! Prongs can make a move on Lily any time during then! It'll be so perfect!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Assuming Prongs has any romantic charm left when it comes to Lily- which I seriously doubt."

"Who knows, maybe a combination of them all could do it for Lily," May said. "Even if she is getting those notes from the stalker guy, and she's being so damn naive about it, I think any romantic things James tries pulling on her will work like gold this time of year."

"Damn, a logical plan that makes sense to me for once," April said, teasing May. "Good one, little sis!"

"So, we're a go with the mistletoe?" Sirius asked, and Alice sighed.

"Drop the damn mistletoe!" she exclaimed.

"Well, it might work..." Peter said in a quiet voice.

"Exactly!" Sirius said, beaming at Peter. "Wormy's got it. Just avoid any hallway I usually use."

"Good to know..." April groaned.

There was a silence. "Well," Peter spoke up in an attempt to break it, "If I wasn't going home, I would spend all my time in the hallways." The silence endured, and if anything, became even more awkward. It was Remus who decided to break it.

"Merlin, Wormtail, you need to get out more."

* * *

Lily walked into the Head's Common Room on the last day of school before the break started, yawning. It had been a long day at the Library, and Transfiguration was, if possible, even more boring. She lay down on the couch and began to hum a tune, until she realized that James and Sirius were bickering loudly over at the table.

"Lily, we need your help!" Sirius called to her.

"No, Padfoot, we don't!" James hissed. "We don't need your help Lily, not one bit."

"Yes we do-"

"We're absolutely fine by ourselves-"

"Are you sure?" Lily asked, sitting up and looking at them.

"No-"

"We've got everything under control!" James exclaimed, and then Lily jumped up. Sirius gave James a look that said, 'Nice going, moron'.

"Yeah, that's not reassuring me any..." she said, walking over to the table. As she came over James hurried to hide some papers from view, while Sirius continued to give James the look stating that he was the biggest idiot in the universe. "So what is it?"

"Nothing-"

"We need to find a way to attract a large group of people to one specific area," Sirius said, breaking his attention away from James to look at Lily calmly. "Any ideas?"

"Well, what's it for?" Lily asked, and then it dawned on her. "A prank?" she guessed, and she knew by James' double face-palm on the table that she was correct. "Really, guys, I thought you were more mature than that..."

"It's not a prank, really!" Sirius said. "Okay, so it kind of is, but it's just to cheer people up!"

"So, murdering the Slytherins or something?" Lily said sarcastically. "Cause that doesn't scream cheering people up at all."

"No!" James exclaimed loudly. "We want to make the hallways more festive!"

"So, destroying school property?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No!" Sirius shouted. "It's-"

"Padfoot-"

"No, Prongs-"

"I've got this!" James said firmly, and he looked at Lily. "I know that you want me to be more mature that I'm Head Boy, but really, look at this place, Lily!" he exclaimed, and then he got down on both knees, his eyes pleading behind his glasses. "People are worrying more and more about Voldemort, and there's N.E.W.T's and a lot of people are starting to get scared of what's happening outside of school. We just want to make the school a little more festive for the holidays- and don't you hate pranks that scream hate and danger? Well, this'll help the holidays, so it'll promote the opposite- love, peace, and safety- cause that's what the holidays are all about, right? Being kind to your fellow man? So we're basically just trying to help everybody by being able to feel more at home during the holidays-"

"Alright!" Lily said, raising her hands in defeat. "I give up. Just stop rambling, you sound like an idiot-"

"Thank you thank you Lily!" James exclaimed, jumping up and hugging her. Sirius got up and hugged the two of them at a run, knocking them to the ground. He jumped up, now extremely excited.

"You are so awesome Lily!" Sirius shouted. "I'm going to go tell the others right now! This is going to be the best freaking holiday ever!"

Lily watched Sirius run out of the portrait hole and out of sight, before realizing she had actually fallen on James. "Oh- how did I not notice this?" she asked herself, and James laughed.

"I don't know," he said, grinning.

Lily looked at the portrait hole. "Wow, so he's really not coming back to help us up, huh?"

"That's Padfoot for you," James offered as an explanation, rolling his eyes. "Besides, I don't mind."

Lily flushed. "_What_?" she asked, her face the same colour as her hair.

James blushed an even deeper shade of red than Lily had. "N-Not like that!" he stuttered. "You're a lot l-lighter than, Wormtail or something..."

There was an awkward silence.

"Lily?"

"Yeah?" Lily asked, looking down at James.

"Can- Can you get off?" James asked, and Lily realized he was still blushing.

"Oh- Oh yeah!" Lily said, and she got off of James carefully before getting up, brushing some dust off of her clothes. James got up, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So..." James said, and then Annie flew in the Portrait Hole.

"Guys!" she exclaimed. "Sirius, Peter and Remus are going to see who can stay in the Black Lake the longest without getting out!"

"It's late December!" Lily exclaimed, gaping.

"Well, yeah!" Annie said. "They're melting a huge area of the shallow end! But that's why I'm getting you guys, I think you would want to watch them being idiots!"

James laughed. "Okay, fine... I'll go."

"Hey, I'm coming too!" Lily exclaimed. "To make sure they don't die in the process..." she said in a low voice, and James laughed.

"Okay, come on!" Annie said, running out of the Portrait Hole.

"Is it just me or has everybody gone on a sugar high?" Lily asked, and James laughed again.

"Well, it's the holidays," he said, shrugging.

"Come on, let's go before they end up freezing to death," Lily said, grabbing James' hand and leading him from the Portrait hole. In the hallways, she broke out into a run, and James followed her, now immensely excited.

Just because he was able to hold Lily's hand while running in the corridors, he had to agree with Sirius. This was going to be the best freaking holiday ever.

* * *

So I actually finished this chapter ten hours ago. Review-replies and everything.  
And then I accidentally hit some weird key. And it deleted the entire thing. So I rewrote it all for you guys, as an apology for not updating in like, ever.

Review time!

Samablue38: Thank you for all the lubb! And, in memory of how I sounded like a weirdo to Evershort... HERE IS SOME MORE! xD

tic tac toe 03: Well, I'm glad you think its great. :3

.limits111: Hearing that my writing gets better really makes me feel better... Thanks. :D

Your yellow flower: Okay, so hearing that THIS is your escape makes me feel like the greatest person on the internet. So you just won the game, for that. Congrats.

Beware the monkeys: I haven't had a 6 day weekend because of snow... T_T I live in CANADA and it's barely snowed where I live. For once, I wished we followed our stereotype. And thanks for the suggestion, I'll use it.

remuslover: Yeah, I was/still am a really bad writer when it comes to tenses and stuff. I'll go back and fix is eventually... When I get bored enough... Nah, probably when this is done. And just your luck, here's an update.

Okay, so now that that's all said in done... *unrolls paper*

Now excuse me.

It's 26 and I must ride away laughing on this fast camel.


	27. Firewhisky and Christmas

Sirius sat in the Head's Common Room, swarmed in blankets and being forced to stay there while the others had gone out to ice-skating on the now re-frozen lake. James was a firm believer that Sirius had got pneumonia from the experience the day before, and he instructed Red not to let Sirius out unless he was with either James or Remus. Sirius had actually won, but he stayed in the water far too long than he should have after Remus and Peter ran out onto the beach.

"Merlin, he worries about me so much…" Sirius complained, and he looked around. He seemed to be pretty much alone, and then he heard somebody on the other side of the Portrait Hole. He sat up, ready to grab a chance at escape (though he was still wrapped up like a Christmas present), when Annie walked in.

"Sit your ass down," she said, closing the portrait behind her with her foot. Sirius noticed she was holding two mugs of hot chocolate. Sirius obeyed, and she came over to him. "I ran into James. He asked me to check on you," she explained, sitting on the end of the couch. "Here," she added, handing Sirius a mug of hot chocolate.

Sirius took it. "Thanks, Anne," he said with a smile.

"It's nothing," Annie smiled at Sirius. "I always like hot chocolate when I'm cold, so I figured-"

"I mean for the company," Sirius cut her off, and he let out a laugh. "It's good not to be alone."

"Was it worth it?" Annie asked, taking one of his blankets and curling up underneath it. "Winning the contest, I mean."

Sirius grinned. "Oh yeah... Completely worth it."

_Flashback_

_"Are you sure the Giant Squid won't come kill us?" Peter asked, taking off his shirt and wading into the water. Remus and Sirius did the same, all three of them wincing as the ice-cold water soaked their pants. The others, sitting on the snowy show, shrugged. Even June was there, having seen James and Lily running down the hall holding hands._

_"I don't know..." June mumbled, looking around. _

_Lily rolled her eyes. "If the teachers see you guys, you're so totally screwed!"_

_"I told them that, but they didn't listen," May said, grinning. "But to heck with it, you know? It's the holidays."_

_"Tomorrow," Annie added._

_"Yeah, tomorrow," May nodded to what she said._

_"And," April said loudly, "you get to see your boyfriend topless."_

_"Speaking of boyfriend," James interrupted, gesturing to the lake with a grin on his face. "They seem to be doing some pretty weird stuff." All their heads turned to the lake, and while most of them stared, Annie broke out into loud squeals of laughter at the three boys. Peter was trying to jump onto Sirius' back, while Sirius was trying not to get too underneath the water. Peter fell off, causing a multitude of water to go all over Remus. Everybody burst out laughing at the sight of Remus almost screaming like a girl. _

_"FUCK! Wormtail!" he exclaimed, jumping, and he dove under the water to make sure Peter didn't drown. Everybody stopped laughing at once._

_"Remus!" May exclaimed, jumping up. _

_"Peter!" June cried out, and Alice looked at her._

_"Peter?" she asked quietly, raising an eyebrow. _

_June's reply was cut off by Remus jumping up, Peter being dragged up with him. _

_"You guys okay?" James asked._

_"Y-Yeah!" Remus said, grinning a little. "I think I'm going to get out."_

_"I'm not!" Peter protested, though he was shivering horribly. _

_Remus rolled his eyes. "You almost drowned, and you want to stay in the water?" he asked. "Fine by me." He climbed out of the water and May cast a quick Hot-Air Charm on him, holding out his robes. Remus put them on and he smiled at her, sitting down. _

_"I'm not giving up!" Sirius growled._

_"Neither am I!" Peter said. _

_"Well, then we'll just be in here forever!" Sirius said, pretending to be a samurai. "And we shall test our diligence, our patience-"_

_"Sirius!" Annie snapped. "Pirates are cooler."_

_"No they're not!" Sirius snapped back._

_"You acted like a pirate and spoke in character as a freaking pirate in fifth year," Lily argued._

_June grinned. "Yeah, Sirius, I'm kind of on Peter's side because you betrayed all of us pirates."_

_Peter looked up from the freezing water. "You are?" he asked. _

_June nodded. "Duh- You didn't completely double-cross us! That's a good virtue to have!" she said with a large smile at Peter. He blushed._

_"I think I'm going to get out," he mumbled, and he ran out of the water. _

_Sirius smirked. "Weaak!"_

_Both June and James reached for Peter's shirt, but James grabbed it first and he dried it off. Peter took it and frowned. "Thanks for cock-blocking me, Prongs," he muttered when June leaned over to talk to May._

_James laughed. "No doing a girl until you explain how the hell you became her boy-crush, Wormtail."_

_"Fine, later..." Peter grumbled._

_Annie looked around. "Sirius, why are you still in the water?"_

_"I must prove my manliness," Sirius said, crossing his arms over his chest._

_"You're going to get hypothermia!" James exclaimed. "Come on, Padfoot!"_

_"No!" Sirius shouted, grinning. "I can't feel my legs anymore, so it's not that bad."_

_Remus face-palmed, shaking with silent laughter. "I don't... Just wow, Padfoot. Just... Just wow..."_

_A group of four Hufflepuff girls walked by, all of them stopping in their tracks when they saw Sirius standing topless in the water._

_"Oh my gosh, that's Sirius Black!" one of them exclaimed, pointing._

_"God, he's chiseled..." another said, sighing. _

_"How strong must he be, to be able to withstand the cold like that?" the third one asked the fourth, who was simply staring at Sirius._

_April glared at them. "June, get your house-mates under control!" she growled. June, shaking with laughter, shook her head._

_"Hello, girls!" Sirius said, waving. The girls all waved back, giggling, causing Annie to frown._

_"Come find us when you finish standing there!" the first one yelled. "We'll tell all our friends how long you were able to stay there..."_

_Sirius grinned widely. "Will do!" Lily face-palmed._

_"He's never going to get out, now..."_

_End of Flashback_

"Sirius?" Annie asked, breaking a silence that had fallen while they both remembered what happened.

"Yeah?"

"Do you hate Regulus?"

Sirius nearly did a spit-take with his hot chocolate. "Where did THAT come from?" he asked, completely clueless.

"Well…" Annie paused, thinking. "I heard something, a rumour- Yeah, I heard a rumour that he's been trying to get back into your good books for some reason. So I wondered if you hated him." Annie looked at Sirius and he knew it wasn't the whole story, but she looked like she was being torn to bits about something, so he let it be.

"Kind of…" Sirius said, sighing. "I mean… He just sat there and watched my parents torture me, you know? But he is my brother… But sometimes, he can be so god damn stupid!" he exclaimed, and he sighed again.

Annie didn't look all too reassured. "Oh… Okay," she said, and she leaned back on the couch.

"Anne?" Sirius asked after a while.

"Mhm?"

"Are you okay?"

Annie sat up a little. Sirius could see her mind processing those three words over and over again, and he could see on Annie's face that she rejected every single answer. In the end, she looked away, setting her now-empty mug of hot chocolate down on a table. "I'm fine. I'm just stressed."

"Anne…"

"I'm _fine_!" she yelled, hugging her knees.

"Anne." Sirius said, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look at him. "You are like a sister to me. Please, just tell me what's wrong!"

Annie shook her head. "I…" she said quietly. "I can't," she choked out in a whisper. Her body began to shake a little, and her eyes were becoming glassy. Sirius put an arm around his sister-from-another-mister and let her cry on his shoulder. He didn't know why she was crying, and he didn't bother asking, but he sat there for a long time, comforting her.

"I trust you, okay?" Sirius said, smiling at her. "You're one of the few girls who doesn't drive me completely batshit crazy."

Annie let out a chuckle for Sirius' sake. "Who are the others?"

"Lily, May, and April," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Not June or Alice?" Annie asked.

"Both of them have already driven me there," Sirius joked.

"Hasn't April?" Annie said, a little confused.

"Well- yeah…" SIrius said.

"So why doesn't she drive you nuts anymore?" Annie asked.

Sirius felt his face grow red- an immensely rare situation, even for him. "I… I'm not entirely sure."

"She just… doesn't anymore?"

"Something like that…" Sirius said, nodding. "So- you heard about the mistletoe plans?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yeah…" Annie said, frowning.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, a little confused by her change from curious to upset.

"Why do you always dump so many girls?" Annie blurted out. "I've seen you throw away girl, after girl, after girl, and they all end up either hating you or stalking you."

"So?" Sirius asked.

"It's dangerous, Sirius!" Annie exclaimed.

"I use protection-"

"Not like that, you idiot!" Annie yelled, and then she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she smiled a little. "You might end up getting hurt yourself. You might get hurt by a girl who hates you, or one that stalks you, or the one girl you care about the most will slip through your grasp, thinking that she's just another toy," she rambled, listing everything that Sirius suspected would be on the back of a romance novel.

Sirius sighed. "I'll be okay, Annie. I'm a big boy."

"Okay…" Annie said, nodding a couple times, and a silence fell over them. Soon, Annie fell asleep on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius simply smiled and let her sleep, soon nodding off as well.

When the others returned from their ice-skating, they saw the two almost-siblings sleeping on the couch, smiles on their faces. It was obvious- whatever they spoke about, they both obviously needed it.

* * *

It was the night before Christmas, and all throughout Gryffindor House, every single creature who stayed back was stirring, getting ready for a rather awesome Christmas party that the girls had come up with.

"Yo!" Sirius yelled up the girl's staircase. "Where do you want the Butterbeer and Firewhisky?" He and James were clutching onto large cases of drinks, tapping their feet impatiently.

Alice came running down the staircase, already dressed with makeup on. "On the table. Over there."

Annie looked up from the couch. "You guys got Firewhisky?" she asked. "How the hell did you manage that?"

Sirius grinned. "It's a secret." When she opened her mouth, and he said, "No."

"What?" Annie asked.

"You can't try any."

Annie stuck her tongue out at Sirius. "Damn," she mumbled. "I'm going to go get ready!" She jumped up, running up the stairs of the girl's staircase. Alice went over to the table, organizing the snacks. She cleared away a space.

"Put them here," Alice said, patting the spot. James and Sirius went over and put the cases down, causing the floor to shake.

Sirius grinned. "Alright- when's the party starting?"

"Eh, right about now," Alice shrugged, and then a crowd of girls ran down the stairs. Within ten minutes, the place was full of dancing, music, and laughter. The Marauders (plus Frank) were standing around when they were joined by Alice, Lily, April and May. In a second, May had grabbed Remus and dragged him off to dance.

"Nice guess," James remarked.

"Thanks," Alice said. "I'm a girl- I know how we work."

Sirius grinned. "No doubt it is a mystifying and complex system."

"Hey, you live with a teenage girl, you should know," April pointed out.

"Yes, because Annie's the perfect example of being a normal girl," James joked, and Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

"Isn't that the truth?" he asked, elbowing Frank, who winced.

"Yes, yes, the complete truth- Want to dance, Alice?" Frank mumbled, before speaking up and holding his hand out to Alice, who took it.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "Bye guys." She and Frank both walked away happily.

James looked at Lily, and April looked at Sirius. "Somehow I feel like we've been in this situation before," James said, grinning.

"What kind of situation?" Lily asked curiously.

"Nothing!" Sirius interrupted rapidly. "No kind of situation at all...

"Is he drunk already?" April asked James, who laughed.

"It's possible."

"Hey guys!" Annie exclaimed, running down the stairs, jumping off the last two.

"And the interruption," James said. "That's almost identical to before."

"Seriously James, what the hell are you talking about?" Lily asked.

"He's talking about nothing, really-" Sirius said, before a girl wandered over.

"Hey, Sirius, let's dance," she slurred, pulling him away from the group. Annie watched this with a frown.

James saw this. "You okay?" he asked.

Annie shook her head. "I'll be fine," she said, putting on a smile that James knew to be fake. "It's a nice party. I think I'm going to go for a walk..." she added, slipping away from the group. James saw the Portrait Hole open and close.

"Isn't she a ray of sunshine?" April asked sarcastically.

"She's been like that for a while," James said. "But, I doubt she wants up to think about that."

April grinned. "I like your thinking. I'm off to get a Firewhisky."

"April!" Lily exclaimed.

"Hey, don't waste your opportunities, Lily!" April teased.

"Well, I'm going with you to make sure you don't overload-" Lily started, but April cut her off.

"Why don't you two talk?" she asked. "Keep James company," she instructed, giving Lily a death look before wandering off as well.

James noticed this and let out a bark of laughter. "Well, it seems that she wants to go alone."

Lily gave him a look. "Go figure," she said, and she leaned against the wall. "So, what are you waiting on?"

"What do you mean?" James asked, curious.

"I mean- don't you have a date or something?" Lily asked. "You normally do, for these sorts of things."

"And have another Ada on my hands?" James said sarcastically. "Oh boy!"

Lily laughed. "Good point."

"What about you?" James asked. "No boyfriend for this occasion?"

"Of course- because I've suddenly become a hot commodity in the past few days, right?" Lily joked. "No, I'm still single from the Justin disaster."

James smirked. "Speaking of Ryam..."

"No, you can't prank him," Lily interrupted.

"That wasn't what I was going to say," James said, wagging his finger in front of Lily's face. "But that means Padfoot can still prank him, right?" he asked jokingly, dodging Lily's attempted hit on his arm. "Alright, I get it," he waved his hands. "No pranks on the tool. So, can I continue?" he asked.

"Sure, I guess," Lily said, shrugging.

"I heard that you dated Ryam just to annoy me," James said quietly, suddenly very close to Lily, in an effort to stop others from overhearing. "Is it true?"

"Well-"

"_Lily_," James cut her off. "I just want to know the truth. This school's got enough bullshit rumors going around, I want to cross one off of my list."

Lily looked away from James. "Yeah, it's true..." she sighed, wandering off. She didn't really want to say the real reason why she wanted to annoy James- Ada was one of them, but she had another. Once in a corner, she stopped, leaning against it and closing her eyes. For a while, she just stood there with her eyes closed, thinking. She wanted to tell him the truth, because lying was becoming too much for her. But telling the truth might have ruined everything that she originally hated, but soon grew to love and enjoy every day.

"So..." a voice said from next to her, and Lily's eyes flew open. James was leaning on the wall next to her, looking at her expectantly. "Care to tell me why?"

"Because I wanted to annoy you, because Ada annoyed me!" Lily snapped.

James smirked. "Well, you could have asked me to dump her."

"And that would have worked like a charm, wouldn't it?" Lily asked, turning to face James completely. "You were terrified of hurting her and being seen as a dickhead again."

"So?" James asked. Lily blinked at his acceptance of her bluntness. "Yeah, I was afraid of being seen as a dickhead because I worked hard to become your friend, and to make sure that Sirius doesn't fuck things up somehow by pranking people and make you hate me again. Because I really hate it when you hate me, Lily, and I want you to trust me!" he suddenly exclaimed, and Lily was pretty sure he had some Firewhisky before she had gotten downstairs. "I really care about you, Lily..." he said quietly, looking like a hurt puppy.

Lily blushed at this. "Uh. Great. Awesome..." she mumbled. This was not where she wanted this conversation to be headed, and she could already see the train wreck taking place. Looking away, she asked, "C-Can you please change the subject?"

James fell quiet for a few seconds. "Do you think we'll be able to finish our plans for the Valentine's Dance?" he asked, now in a monotone.

"Oh, yeah..." Lily said, rubbing the back of her neck. "We just need to be able to find some sort of performer for music, and it should be fine."

"That's the hardest part, though..." James mumbled. "But I bet I could have Dad use some of his contacts."

"Really?"

James nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard."

Lily lit up. "That's great!" she exclaimed, smiling. "Then, I have one less thing to stress about."

James smiled at Lily's smile as a rather slow song came on. He saw some girls headed his way and he looked at Lily. "Quick, dance with me!" he exclaimed, taking Lily by the waist.

"What?" Lily asked, but she went along with it.

"I don't want to dance with those girls," he explained in a low voice. The two of them danced for a while, not saying much, until James looked up and immediately turned red. Lily noticed, and frowned.

"Are you okay, James?" she asked.

"Mistletoe..." he mumbled, blushing even further.

Lily was almost certain that she hadn't seen any earlier. "Wha-" she asked, looking up, but she was cut off.

Normally she would have argued with any interruption, but this interruption was special, being the lips of James Potter suddenly touching hers.

She let it slide.

* * *

Annie walked down the corridor. She knew her House was partying, but she didn't feel up to the partying mood. Her lack of sleep, growing stress and shame of what she was being constantly forced to do had basically made it near impossible for her to be able to party in any way. Besides, if she had, she would still have conflicting feelings beating her down. She really wished her feelings would stuff it.

Walking down the corridors at night helped her think. When her family first died, she used to do it all the time (after making sure everyone at the Potter Manor was asleep, of course) because she was uneasy. Then, it became a habit of hers to clear her mind.

And then someone found out about her habit, and shit hit the fan. It didn't help that her kind of brother's actual brother, who he kind of hates, had a not-so-subtle crush on her.

"Anne..." a voice said quietly. Annie whirled around, and she frowned.

_Think of the devil, _she thought, frowning even more at Regulus. "I thought you went home," Annie said, crossing her arms.

"I didn't."

"Well, duh," Annie snapped, rolling her eyes.

Regulus took a step towards her, making her take another back. "I wanted to give you something."

"I don't care!" Annie hissed. "Get it in your head that I will never, ever like you."

"Yeah- Well..." Regulus paused, pulling out a rather large package. "It's... Just take it," he said, holding it out to her.

Annie raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Merlin, just do it!" Regulus snapped. Annie rolled her eyes and took it, ripping off the paper, and staring at what was underneath. "This... What the hell?" she asked, looking at the crate of Chocolate Frogs.

"I know you like them," Regulus said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well..." Annie said, trailing off. "Thanks." She made a mental note to never, ever eat them in case they were spiked with something.

Regulus guessed what she had been thinking of. "Are you ever going to eat them?" he asked.

"Oh, hell no!" Annie exclaimed with a laugh, and that made Regulus laugh as well. After they stopped, there was an _extremely _awkward silence.

"Hey," Regulus said.

Annie looked at him. "What?" she asked.

"What would you do if I kissed you right now?" Regulus asked in return, blushing.

"I would murder you," Annie snarled, taking a few steps back as the school's large clock began to ring for eleven o'clock.

Regulus smirked. "I can deal with an early death," he mumbled, and then he stepped towards Annie, grabbing her tightly as the clock stopped.

_Fuuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! _Annie thought, now panicking. She didn't have any more time, though, because Regulus was kissing her- something she would regret deeply for months.

* * *

April found herself not dancing, but instead drinking a Firewhisky with the most unlikely of drinking partners- Owen, who had also grabbed a Firewhisky despite being fourteen.

"So why aren't you dancing?" she asked, leaning against a wall and raising an eyebrow. Owen shrugged, taking a long drink.

"I guess..." he paused. "There's nobody I want to dance with."

April grinned. "Annie isn't here, eh?"

"So why aren't you dancing?" Owen asked, blushing at April's question, and changing the subject.

"Huh?" April replied, a little confused by his sudden change of subject. "Oh, I guess I didn't feel like it. Too many boys want me for my body, and I'm a little tired of always shelling out."

Owen nodded. "Makes sense."

"Yeah..." April said, taking a very long drink. Then, she looked at Owen. He was extremely tall, tanned, with red-brown hair that was spiked, not to mention really cute. She could see that he was muscular through his sweater, and she frowned. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Owen pointed out. "But go nuts."

"Why are you always waiting around for Annie?" April asked. "I mean, I bet a lot of girls like you. Why only wait around for her?"

Owen laughed. "I doubt you'd get it."

"Try me."

"I love her."

April did a spit-take with her drink, and Owen smirked. "Yeah, I love her. Always have. My dad said that it was _impossible_ for me to love her since we were eleven, and that I was too young, but I don't think so. She may seem a little rude, but she's extremely loyal and caring. She always does thing in the best interest of others, and never of herself..." he sighed a little. "And... And I don't know. I saw her at the Ceremony and I felt a crush coming on, but seeing how strong she was despite her hardships... It made me want to hold onto her and to always be there for her, no matter what- and isn't that was love is?"

"And her boyfriends didn't change that?" April said, raising her eyebrows.

"Just made me hide it, that's all..." he said, and he looked over on the dance floor. "But aren't you waiting around for somebody?"

"What?" April asked, shocked. "Who am I waiting for?"

Owen shook his head. "If you can't see it, I won't tell..." he looked at his empty Firewhisky bottle. "I think I'm going to go find Annie," he said, getting off the wall.

April stood up strait. "I'll come with you!" she exclaimed. "Cause you're probably a little bit drunk."

Owen shrugged. "If you want," he muttered, and he slipped out of the Portrait Hole, April following him.

For a while, they walked in silence.

"Are you ever going to tell her?" April asked.

"Maybe," Owen said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I was thinking of waiting until Sirius and James graduated so I won't be murdered."

April let out a soft laugh. "Good point- except I think everybody that meets her feels that protective of her..." she trailed off, and then she smirked. "You know, I used to think that Sirius liked Annie in a different way."

Owen stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" he asked, turning pale.

"It was just the vibe I got!" April said hurriedly. "I mean, the guy was known to be, well, a whore by age fourteen. If it happened, nobody would have been surprised. I'm kind of proud of him that he was, finally, able to see a girl in a light that didn't involve taking her clothes off."

"Well, that's good, because I'm pretty sure he likes somebody else in that way," Owen said, catching up to April. "Not the clothes-off way or the family way, like a crush way."

"That _is_ the clothes-off way."

"You know what I mean!" Owen hissed. "I mean, somebody he sees more in than sex."

"Well, who?" April asked, giddy. "I want dirt!"

"I'm not saying if you're that blind. He's so obvious about it."

"Oh, now I want to guess who it is-" April said, but she broke off hearing two voices.

"I know you like them," the first one said. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't figure out who. She could see Owen frown, though.

"Well... Thanks," the second voice said, and April blinked. It sounded like Annie.

"Are you ever going to eat them?" the first voice asked.

"Oh, hell no!" Annie laughed, and Owen seemed to be relieved.

Then, in the silence that followed, they heard, "What would you do if I kissed you right now?"

April's heart sank, and she could see Owen's hands turning into fists and he sped up, ignoring April's pleas to stop walking, so she had no choice but to follow him as the bells went off, marking it to be eleven o'clock. They burst around the corner to see Regulus- April wanted to scream and punch him when she saw- forcibly kissing Annie, who was standing there in shock. Neither of them noticed Owen or April.

Regulus pulled away. "Well?" he asked, and then Annie slapped him after a few moments.

"You _asshole_!" she shouted.

Regulus gaped at her. "You have _got _to be kidding me."

"I can't believe you _kissed _me!" Annie continued to shout.

"Well, you didn't seem to fight back, so I figured I did something right-" Regulus said, stopping when he saw Owen and April. "LaBrave."

"Black," Owen said icily. Annie saw Owen and took a few steps back.

"Owen, I swear to god, this isn-" Annie started, but Owen just shot her a glare.

"Well, you didn't seem to fight him off, so I guess he did do something right," he said in a low voice. April could see tears rolling down his face/

"Owen-"

"No, Annie!" Owen said, and he turned around and walked off, in the opposite way from where they came from. April continued to watch the scene in front of her.

Regulus smirked. "Well, he took the hint, finally! After all that-"

"I _hate_ you!" Annie screamed. "He was my best friend, and now he probably hates me!" She punched Regulus in the nose and stormed off in the direction of Gryffindor tower. April knew that Owen wouldn't hate Annie, but she was afraid that what he saw might have scared him from ever telling Annie how he felt, and that made April feel even worse.

April went over to Regulus. "Listen," she said, looming over him, "you need to stay the fuck away from her."

"And why should I?" Regulus asked.

"Because Sirius would kill you- you were his brother, and now, she's his sister. He would choose her over you any day," April snarled. "And I'd hate to seem him have to kill his own brother." She turned around and began to walk away, but she could hear him shout something.

"Because you care about him?" Regulus asked with a smirk. "You'd just end up getting thrown away like everybody else!"

"No, I won't..." April whispered quietly to herself. "Cause I just don't believe I do..."

* * *

The next morning was extremely, unbelievably awkward, despite it being Christmas. The Marauders, Lily's friends, and Annie gathered in the Head's Common Room to unwrap their gifts. Annie was silent for almost the entire morning. She smiled when she opened the Marauder's gift to her- a new Beater's bat and a large sweater which she put on right away. Lily, the triplets, and Alice had given her an empty scrapbook.

"For you to remember us by when we graduate," April joked, and Annie laughed.

"Thanks..." she said, smiling.

Lily had got a new dress from Alice, more makeup from April and June, _A Midsummer Night's Dream _from May and Remus, chocolates from Peter, Sirius, Annie and Frank, and she frowned a little, seeing no gift from James. She shrugged it off, however, knowing that it was still awkward because he had kissed her the night before. Right after they broke apart, Sirius came out of no where and pulled James away, and Lily hadn't seen him for the rest of the night. She had gotten him something, but she decided to hide it in her room instead of bringing it down that morning.

James opened his presents, grinning like a child the entire time. From the Marauders, Annie, and his parents, he got a new broom. He stared at it. "Guys, this is a _Golden Dragon_!" he exclaimed. "They only made like, fifty of these!"

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, your parents heard you fawning over it during the summer so they asked us if we wanted to chip in for it- and knowing how much I love my ickle Prongsie, I couldn't say no!"

James nodded, still smiling. "Thanks, guys."

"Open the rest of your presents!" April said impatiently, having already opened all of hers. James realized he was the last one and dove for the rest of the gifts, getting a book about becoming an Auror from Alice and Frank, and a bunch of sweets from the triplets. Seeing nothing from Lily, he shrugged it off.

The others, seeing James done, jumped up. "Let's go eat!" Sirius exclaimed, leading them out of the room. Annie followed, and the others got up. Lily was almost out the door when James remembered something.

"Wait, Lily!" he exclaimed. She stopped and looked at him.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Wait there, okay?" he asked, and then James ran up the stairs to his room. Lily waited, a little bemused, and she went over to the fire. She could hear his footsteps back down the stairs and she kept her back to him. James ran over to her and popped up in her field of vision, holding a small box. "Before you open it, I would like to say sorry for last night," he said in a low voice, holding it out to her. "And the kiss and everything. It's the holidays, and mistletoe..." he blushed, and Lily laughed. "I figured I'd kind of wait to see if you hated me before trying to give you this, though."

"It's okay, I guess!" she said. "I actually got something for you too. Can I go get it?" she asked, and James nodded. She ran up to her room and ran back down in record time, holding it out. "Open yours first," she smiled at James as he took it.

Ripping it open, he laughed. Inside was a pure-blue Chullo-type hat that had a small white stag sewn on the front.

"Your friends always call you Prongs, and that makes me think of a stag," Lily explained, "and last time we went to Hogsmeade, I saw that in one of the clothing stores and I decided to buy it for you!"

James smiled at Lily. "I will always treasure it," he said, putting it on. "Now open this!" he exclaimed, holding the box out to Lily.

Lily opened it, and she nearly dropped it when she saw what was inside. A silver chain, with two rubies on the either side of one emerald. "James!" she exclaimed. "This must have cost a _ton_!"

James blushed. "It didn't, really..." he mumbled. "I mean, Mum owled me a while back saying that she wanted to take part in this silent auction that was for St. Mungo's, and she sent me a catalogue of the stuff. I saw this and figured I'd try for it, and I offered three Galleons. Nobody else bid on it." He let out a laugh.

"But- But I gave you a hat, and you gave me this!" Lily said. "That's a multitude of difference if they were in normal shops!"

"No, it isn't," James said.

"Yes, it is!"

James put his hands on Lily's shoulders. "It isn't, Lily, because Lily Evans- _Lily Evans_- gave this hat to me, and I know that she doesn't give out gifts all willy-nilly. Anything from her is like a treasure, cause she's like a treasure."

Lily blushed at this, and then she decided that it was now or never- he had just called her a _treasure_! "James, I-"

"Want help putting it on?" James asked. "Okay." He took Lily's hand and put the bracelet on her gently. "Let's go!" he exclaimed, holding onto Lily's hand still.

"O- Okay..." Lily said, sighing. "James, you're still holding my hand."

"Your hands are like ice, and I'm warming them up," James said, leading her out of the Head's Dorm.

For the second time in two days, Lily had absolutely _nothing_ to complain about.

* * *

A/N: Oh. My. God. This chapter, not including this Author's Note, is 6 355 words long. O_O

And... Yeah, Regulus kissed Annie, and got COMPLETELY rejected in EVERY SINGLE MEANING OF THE WORD.  
And what's this I see? James becoming blunt? :D Finally! Oh, and that small bit of April believing that Sirius had an actual crush on Annie was to get rid of any people thinking that he does, which is clarified by April afterwords, cause some people ship that.

Review time!

Samablue38: Being hyper's super fun, right? Once I stayed up all night and then I went to my camp/work/thing and I was bouncin' off the walls. xD

.limits111: Thanks for all the compliments, and awkward Wormtail moments are the best moments, rite?

Rue-The-Marauder: I'll be honest, I thought your username was 'Ride-the-Marauder' when I first saw it. Gave me a laugh. And I was't going to include that, but I decided to because whythehellnot.

Your yellow flower: I will explain soon enough. But basically Ada's a creeper and Regulus and Owen... Well, the bit featuring them should clarify a BIT.

Scarlet Natalia: Well... *clears throat* HERE IS SOME MORE!

perdyprincess: Awh, thank you so much! :D Here, have an E-Cookie. But yeah, I imagined that it would take just about FOREVER for Lily to comes to terms with her feelings, because to quote Stardust, "Love [...] can easily be mistaken for loathing!"

GiantPurpleRing: Thanks.

snuffleslover713: Haha, thanks. It's actually PAINFUL for me to read these first few chapters. But these later chapters, I can even see huge differences in my own style, mainly because I write a lot of mini-stories and that is like practice for me.

Oh, and if you guys have a funny sign-off for me, I will gladly use it. :D

Read and Review, loves!

This has been 26, still riding the fast camel. Dang thing won't slow down for me to get off.

PS: Guess what? Right after I say to one of the reviews (I forgot who) that I've barely gotten any snow... I had to walk to school in three frickin' feet of snow.


	28. Accidents, Curses and Conclusions

When term started, it started slowly, with the days drudging by, but almost everybody was much more cheerful than they were entering the holidays- the sole reason being James and Lily. _Anybody_ who saw them knew that they had both fallen for each other _hard_.

The only problem was how oblivious Lily was to James' approaches, and how James' really bad tendency to assume things and cut people off was ruining every single time they had a moment. James was growing increasingly moody because of this, but that was nothing compared to Annie's change- if she was depressed around Christmas, that was nothing compared to now. She refused to talk to anybody, even Sirius and James. She didn't eat in the Great Hall, and nobody knew if she even ate at all. James and Sirius, worried about her, tried to get Owen to talk to her, but he was in his own pits of despair from the looks of things. This didn't help James' attempts to make Lily his, since his attention now belonged to his depressed foster-sister.

"Annie?" James asked, knocking on an empty classroom door. He had followed her out of the Great Hall one evening in late January, and when she didn't answer, he walked in. He could smell Firewhisky and found Annie in the corner of the room, drinking a bottle. She looked up at him.

"What?" she asked in a low growl, and James Summoned the bottle from her hand. "Hey!" she snapped. "I was drinking that!"

"How much have you drunk tonight?" James asked angrily, approaching her.

"That's the first, and I only have one if I do," Annie said, glaring. "I'm not like you or Sirius. I don't like making drunken mistakes."

"So why are you drinking?" James sat down next to Annie, putting an arm around her. "It's not like you."

"Nothing goes right for me..." Annie mumbled after a few minutes.

"What?"

"Mum's dead, Daddy's dead, Richard's dead," Annie said under her breath. "I'm scarred for life, I'm being _blackmailed_, and my best friend doesn't want to talk to me!"

"You're being blackmailed?" James asked, going pale. "Why?"

Annie glared at James. "Because I'm an easy target. I'm always the easy target! The tiny, emotional, weak little girl who's close to Hogwart's greatest legends- why does blackmailing me seem so much easier than blackmailing you or Sirius, hm?" she asked sarcastically. "Oh wait, maybe it's because I've got a crazy stalker forcing me to do what he wants-" Annie stopped, hiccuping. James suspected she had lied to him about how much she had drunk before. "And if I don't do it, you guys get the living man-shit beaten out of you! And did I mention that one of my best friends doesn't want to talk to me?"

"Why, what did you do to Juliet?" James asked, hugging her a bit closer.

"Not Juliet."

"Charli-"

"Not Charlie, or Samantha. Owen..." Annie hid her face in her hands. "And I've tried talking to him but he just shakes his head and walks off! It hurts me so much to seem him so torn up like this, but he won't tell me what's going on!"

"You won't tell us, either," James poked her arm. "We're _worried_ about you."

"And I'm worried about _you_!" Annie retaliated. "I want you to be happy with Lily, but it's getting harder-"

"Happy with Lily?" James asked. "What?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "Cutting me off... No wonder..." she said under her breath. "Look, we all _know_ you're back to fawning over Lily, and we all _know_ that she probably likes you back, so why don't you just fucking tell her or something before Sirius goes drastic and locks you in a broom closet until you snog!"

James blinked. "She... she likes me?"

"Probably, James!" Annie said, exasperated. "You're just oblivious! She wears the bracelet that you got her, right?" she asked. "And since you kissed her, she didn't try murdering you! Easy. Done. Go find her and leave me alone!"

James felt elated, realizing what Annie had said was actually true. "You're honest when you drink," he remarked to her. "Brutally honest."

"It's one of my charms," Annie said, and she watched as he downed the rest of the Firewhisky. "Not cool," she added.

"Hey, I need this, okay? If what you say is right then I need to-" James broke off, looking at Annie. "You little shithead!" he exclaimed, laughing.

"What'd I do?"

"You changed the subject, right off of being blackmailed onto me and Lily!" James said with another laugh, before looking at Annie sternly. "Now back to being blackmailed..."

"James, I _can't_!" Annie cried. "I seriously can't."

"Unbreakable Vow?" James asked, worried.

"No..." Annie sighed. "He..." she stopped, looking at her watch. "Just leave me alone, James."

"What?"

"Please!" Annie snapped, turning to look at him with tearful eyes. "Just get out. And... Just stop talking to me altogether."

"You're my foster sister!" James exclaimed. "How can I stop talking to you?"

Annie sighed. "It's better this way, okay? So you won't be hurt when you find out."

"Find what out?" James asked.

"_Get out_!" Annie shrieked, pointing to the door. James, surprised by her outburst, got up and walked backwards to the door.

"Fine, whatever," he said, bumping into a desk. He jumped and moved a few feet to the side before going to walk backwards again, slowly losing sight of Annie.

"You're going to hit something," her voice said as James bumped into the door-frame. He could feel his blush and he slipped from the classroom, confused as to what was going on. James was considering going to his room when he could hear footsteps. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and threw it on seconds before Snape came from around the corner. He looked around before going inside. James followed him in, and he had to dodge Snape turning around to close the door. James watched Snape go over to where Annie was sitting.

"Did you deliver it?" Snape asked. Annie didn't reply. "Heart, answer me!"

"No."

"What?" Snape hissed. "I told you to-"

"I already did that you told me to, can you please just leave me alone?" Annie asked, getting up. "I don't want to do this anymore."

"You only delivered three."

"And each time I ruined the chances of the happiness of somebody I cared about because you're a coward-"

"Don't," Snape growled, cutting Annie off.

"Don't what?"

"Don't call me a coward..." Snape turned away from Annie. "Do you want me to tell the whole school about you and him? Do you want me to harm Black and Potter? Is that what you want?" he asked in a menacing voice. James fought the urge to go and punch Snape- he had to get to the bottom of this, but he held onto his wand just to be safe.

"I don't care anymore!" Annie shouted. "I don't care who knows about me and him, and what happened? Owen never talks to me anyway, now, so what's the point in hiding it? And I don't care if they find out about me crying, if they find out, they'll find out what _you_ did to me! You'll get expelled for sure."

"Oh?" Snape asked, smirking. "I might, but not before Black and Potter get what's coming to them. And how will you fare, knowing you could have stopped it?"

"I will s-stop it!" Annie said, shaking slightly. James could see fear etched out on her face, and her eyes screamed that she wanted help. "I'll s-stop you if I n-need to..." Snape walked over to Annie, still smirking widely.

"You're useless in strong defensive spells, lately," he mocked, laughing. "You can barely cast a proper Shield Charm. How will you stop me? You've practically lost the will to perform magic."

"And that's your fault."

"It's yours, for being weak."

"Oh yeah?" Annie asked angrily. "It's my fault for being sensitive because I watched my family _die_?"

"It's your fault that you're a Mudblood."

"You're only a Half-Blood- you still have that 'mud' in your veins," Annie snapped. "And don't call me a Mudblood."

"Why not? You're not Lily."

"No, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like this either if she found out. That nickname is why she hates you-" Annie suddenly had her arm grabbed by Snape, and James was about to throw the Cloak off, expecting Snape to hex her, when instead, he could hear Snape softly panting, looking like he was crying.

"Shut up!" Snape shouted. "She'll never find out about this..."

"Because you're such a coward," Annie snapped. "This is why she likes James and not you!"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Snape screamed, grabbing Annie's other arm and shaking her. "You're going to deliver my notes to her or you're going to get it again!"

"Let her go!" James shouted, whipping his Cloak off, pointing his wand towards Snape, who let Annie go, shocked.

"James!" Annie exclaimed, her voice full of relief and anger.

"How much did you hear?" Snape asked, surprised.

"Everything..." James snarled, and then Snape's shocked expression turned into a smirk.

"Oh?" he asked. "Then you heard how Heart was delivering notes to Lily for me? How she was going behind your back to turn Lily to my side? How she was working to get Lily to like me, instead of you?" he looked at Annie. "She betrayed you completely."

James looked at Annie. "You did all that?"

"He made me, James, and if I didn't..." Annie broke off, crying, and James remembered everything he had heard, and Annie mentioning that she was being blackmailed. His eyes fell on Snape.

"You sonofabitch," James growled. "I can't believe you're so fucking low, Snape, to blackmail somebody three years younger than you."

Snape shrugged. "Well, she's easy to target. She was always the easiest target. She always had a new thing that I could use..." he smirked. "Like Regulus."

"Regulus Black?" James asked, his wand still raised. "What's he have to do with Annie?"

"He's kissed her," Snape said, grinning. "He's kissed her, tried giving her presents, followed her around... He even scared off all his competition. And he made her scared enough not to tell anybody."

James glared at Snape. "No. Annie wouldn't let him kiss her- you're lying."

"Ask her yourself, Potter," Snape snapped. James turned to look at Annie.

"He... he forced it," she said after a moment. James, full of anger towards Regulus, some to Annie as well, turned and punched Snape in the face. Snape, clearly not expecting to be hit, swore loudly. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at James.

"I told you he wouldn't get it, Heart, if you let Lily fall for me..." he warned. "Now he can have it!"

"No!" Annie screamed, and she pushed James out of the way just as Snape hissed something unintelligible. Annie collapsed to the ground, and James went over to her, seeing gashes, like swords, appear all over her body. They began to bleed. James looked up at Snape, who was mortified at losing his messenger.

"Do something!" James snapped.

"I haven't figured out the counter-curse yet!" Snape shouted, and he was about to run for it when three people walked in.

"What's going on here?" Professor Dumbledore asked, Lily and Sirius behind him. "I heard the most bizzare of shouts-" he stopped, seeing Snape, with his wand still up, and then he looked at James, his wand thrown to the side, and then his eyes fell upon Annie, who was twitching on the floor. Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it, bandaging Annie's multiple cuts and gashes, and another wave magicked a stetcher, which Sirius delicately lifted Annie onto. Once Sirius had left the room to take Annie to the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore turned to Snape and James.

"I believe you two have some explaining to do."

* * *

"I can't believe this happened..." Sirius said, looking over at Annie. Nobody had come to see him in three hours. He guessed they were explaining to Dumbledore what had happened, but did it really take three hours? Then, the doors burst wide open. He turned, expecting to see James, or at least Lily, who he was looking for James with when Dumbledore found them and asked them about the shouting.

Instead, he saw Regulus and Owen both trying to stop each other from entering first. Through the doorway, Sirius could see April and June running down the hallway towards them.

"Shove off!" Owen snarled, and he punched Regulus in the stomach. Regulus then punched Owen in the eye.

"What the fuck did I do?" Regulus asked loudly. They were both oblivious to Sirius being there. "I thought you wouldn't talk to her!"

"I heard that Snape was blackmailing Annie because of what you did to her!"

"Then why didn't you try helping her, other then just running away like a baby!" Regulus snapped.

"Because I'm sick of it!" Owen shouted. "I'm sick of seeing other guys touch her, and hurt her, because she can't fucking realise that I lov-"

"Guys, the Hospital Wing isn't the best place for a fight," Sirius said in a low voice. Both boys turned their heads rapidly, Regulus turning pale like a sheet, Owen turning red like a tomato.

"Hello, Sirius," Regulus said, as if it was nothing. His face betrayed him, though, and Sirius saw he was shaking slightly. Sirius only aknowledged his brother with a nod.

"What did he do to Anne?" he asked Owen, who was reluctant to answer. April and June ran in through the doors, both of them panting, and June growled about they ran all the way for nothing. April, however, turned to Owen and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Want me to explain it?" she asked, and Owen nodded a little. Regulus' eyes shot daggers to April, and June, noticing, grabbed his arm and forced him outside. They could hear his protests to her forcing him to leave all the way down the hallway, and when they fell quiet, Owen slipped out of the room.

Sirius looked at April. "It's some confusing dramatic bullshit, isn't it?" he asked, and April nodded, going to sit next to him.

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" she asked.

"Oh, long version for sure, not like there's a girl on the brink of dying here," Sirius said sarcastically. April winced.

"Point taken," she said, and then she looked at Sirius. "Regulus kissed Annie."

"_What_?" Sirius yelped, and he looked down at Annie, and back at April. "What the flying fuck?"

April sighed and she forced Sirius back down. "Christmas. Annie went for a walk, Regulus found her, and pinned her so he could kiss her. She slapped him. That easy enough for you to understand?"

Sirius nodded, his face turning red from anger. "I'm going to beat-"

"No, you're not!" April snapped. "That's exactly why she didn't tell you!"

"What?"

"Annie didn't tell you, because if you beat your brother up, the Slytherins would probably come back and beat you up more!" April shouted, having worked out the situation the previous day. "You need to calm down, Sirius, because we don't want that to happen to you," she added when Sirius didn't answer. He looked at April.

"Why do you care?" he asked.

April rolled her eyes. "I just do, okay?" she snapped. "Promise me you won't beat him up."

"_Apri_-" Sirius began to groan, but April put a hand over his mouth.

"Promise," she said, and then she lowered her hand. For a moment, they were staring into each other's eyes, and Sirius saw a deep blush spread across April's cheeks. He smirked.

"Promise."

* * *

James sat in the Head's Common Room, looking into the fireplace, a book in his hands. By the time Professor Dumbledore had let him and Lily leave in order to talk to Snape, it was after midnight, because it took a while for them to get the story right. Both James and Lily tried to distract themselves- James, by reading, and Lily cleaning up their Common Room, but in the end, Lily sat on the chair across from him, hugging a cushion.

"Why does this always happen to us?" she asked quietly. She had given up trying to reprimand James for fighting with Snape, seeing as how he looked like he was hit by a truck emotionally. "_Why_? Like us being attacked by Death Eaters in Hogsmeade, Annie's family getting murdered, what happened after O.W.L's..." Lily sighed, and she looked at James. "Can't we ever have a break?"

"From what?" James asked bitterly.

"From all this bullshit," Lily snapped, tired of his moping. "I'm tired of it!"

"You know why we can't have a break?" James said loudly. "Because we're teenagers! We're wizards! We should be able to think up an answer for anything!" James got up and threw his book against a wall. "But we can't! People don't understand how hard stuff is for us!" Lily watched him, shocked that what happened affected him so much.

"James," Lily started quietly. "Calm down-"

"I don't want to calm down!" James shouted. "I've seen her bleed out again! I'm tired of seeing blood!"

For a moment, Lily wondered who 'her' was, but then it dawned on her. "James, are you-" she started, but James cut her off again, sitting back down and clenching his fists.

"I'm seeing it all over again," he said in a low voice. "All the blood, and I can hear all the screams... it..." he broke off, and Lily went over to him, taking one of his hands.

"It must have been hard," she said, "to see all that when you were that young. You were fourteen, you have just befriended her, why did you have to take care of her?" she asked. "Why did you have to watch her fight death?" Lily paused, and then she looked at James. "It's because you care, James. You care about people, and that's why this is hitting you so hard. Annie'll be okay, you'll see."

James looked away from Lily, sighing. "I'm not worried about her. She's tough."

"Then why-"

"I'm worried about you!" James snapped, getting up and wrenching his hand from Lily's hold. "All the people close to me end up getting hurt, I don't want you to get hurt, too!"

"So you don't think I'm tough?" Lily asked, crossing her arms.

James shook his head. "It's not that..." he said quietly. "I know you're tough."

"Then what?"

"If you ever got hurt because of me, I don't know what I'd do..." James whispered, not looking at Lily. "I care about you too much. I'd probably kill myself, knowing that I caused you pain."

"What?" Lily asked, getting up and forcing James to look at her. "Why?"

For a second, James was frozen, looking at Lily. She could see a blush creep up his face.

"James?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

James opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. He blushed further. "Damn," he mumbled, and then he sighed. "Guess this is the only way..."

Lily was about to ask what the hell he was talking about when James wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. When he broke away, Lily gaped at him for a few seconds. "You..." she mumbled. "You have _got_ to stop doing that..."

James blanched. "You didn't... Uh... Like it?"

"I don't like being cut off," Lily growled. "Now what the hell was that all about?"

"Are you serious?" James asked. "You don't know what that means?"

"I have no idea what you're getting at."

James sighed. "God, you're dense... And here I thought you girls were good with that sort of thing."

"What sort of thing-"

"It meant that I like you, Lily!" James said, cutting her off. "And I had no better way to say it, so I kissed you!"

Lily blinked. "So you're not drunk?"

"No."

James watched in confusion as Lily started giggling at his answer. Frowning, he asked, "What's so funny?"

"I like you too, James!" Lily squealed, and she hugged him tightly around his neck. James stood there, and it was his turn to be surprised.

"So confused to squealy in eight seconds, nice," he mumbled, and Lily only hugged him tighter.

"Shut up," she whispered into his ear, and for once, James listened to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"You're officially mine," he said into her hair.

"And you're mine," Lily replied, happy. James smiled. Those three words made him the happiest guy at Hogwarts.

* * *

The next day was an adventure for Lily, to say the least. James' abrupt way of confessing his crush on her made her content, but if she had known then and there that she would become the school's biggest story, she would have slapped James and ran. The emotional heartbreak she would have suffered was nothing to the whispers that surrounded her by lunchtime.

"I heard she screamed it out to him-"

"Really? I heard they shagged-"

"Please, she couldn't shag him, she's too much of a priss-"

"Conolly told me that he screamed it at her-"

"No, it must have been a love potion-"

"I heard that Annie Heart got tortured, and Evans used Potter's heartbreak to wheel him in-"

"Heartbreak? I thought they were like siblings-"

"You know what I mean."

"Just ignore them," James whispered in Lily's ear as she ate her lunch. She sighed.

"If only it was that easy," she said. "They're never going to get the real story."

"So?" James asked. "We know the real story, and the Marauders know the real story, and your friends know the real story, so what's the big deal?"

"Well, about my friends-"

"LILY EVANS!"

Lily and James turned to see April, Alice and May running towards them as fast as their legs could carry them.

"You didn't tell them," James groaned, judging by how Alice looked like she was going to slap Lily silly.

"You two are together?" April demanded, sitting across from Lily and consequently shoving a fifth-year out of his spot.

"When the hell did this happen?" Alice asked, sitting next to April, the fifth-years friends having emptied their spots in fear. "And how?"

"And why are we the last to know?" May asked, not even bothering to sit down.

"Well-"

"_Tell us_!" Alice shouted, and the Great Hall fell quiet.

"Inside voice, Alice, inside voice," Frank said from behind her. He slid in between Alice and April, obviously as desperate for gossip as everybody else.

"Oopsies," Alice said with a giggle. "Now, dish!"

"We were arguing," Lily said simply. "About what happened-"

"Big surprise," April said, and she winced as May slapped her upside the head. "What?" she asked.

"Just let her finish!" May scolded, and April fell quiet.

"And then I asked James why he was being so weird, and he kissed me. That's it." Lily looked at her friends. "You happy now?"

"You kissed her?" April asked, looking at James. "You're on the brink of suspention because of what happened with Snape, and you kissed her?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," James said, shrugging.

"Of course it did," May said, rolling her eyes.

"I was trying to be romantic!"

"Don't try," Frank advised. "For normal guys, romance can only really be planned a few weeks beforehand, not on the spot."

"I've had plenty of romantic moments with Remus, and they're on the spot!" May protested.

"Remus isn't exactly the definition of normal, remember this," Alice pointed out.

"Right. His furry little problem," James said, nodding, and Frank frowned.

"Remus has a bad cat or something?"

Lily gaped at Frank due to his cluelessness, until she realized he probably didn't know about Remus because Remus was much more uptight about people knowing. "Er..." she paused, trying to find the right words. "Something like that."

"Oh, a rabbit?" Frank asked sympathetically. "I had one like that when I was younger, it mauled my hand."

"Sure- wait, how did you get a rabbit to maul your hand?" Lily asked, shocked.

"Animals hate me, let's leave it at that!" Frank said, blushing.

James laughed. "Well, have you ever been mauled by any other animals?"

"Archie, Alice's cat, has tried to kill me-" Frank started, but Alice hit his arm.

"He did not!" Alice snapped. "He was just roughhousing."

"Oh, sure..." Frank said, rolling his eyes. April coughed loudly.

"Can we PLEASE get back to the subject of James and Lily?" she asked. "Because the whole school's been buzzing about it."

"Don't see why," James replied, shrugging. Suddenly, he felt his hair being pulled back sharply. He yelped and turned to see an irate-looking June.

"I heard you shagged her," she said in a low voice, pointing to Lily. "And I want to know what the real story is before I go mad."

"You already are mad," James snapped, and Lily pulled June down to sit next to her. "Besides, look who's talking."

"What?" June asked.

"You and Wormtail," James countered. "I've tried getting the story from him and he still won't tell me. What the hell happened between you two? You used to not be able to stand him, and now you act like he's the best thing since Spellotape!"

June paled, but she looked at James with fierceness in her eyes. "Well, I don't see what's wrong with having a crush on a guy!"

Lily did a spit-take with her pumpkin juice. "What?" she asked, looking at June wildly.

"When the hell did this happen?" April demanded, grabbing the arm of her triplet, while looking to see that May didn't faint from shock.

"At the beginning of the year!" June growled.

May blinked. "We are talking about Peter Pettigrew, _right_?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Apparently," Alice said, as shocked as everyone else.

"_Why_?" May demanded, staring at her sister, who sighed.

"I was walking back to the Library when I heard some Slytherins trash-talking you guys," June explained, growing a little red. "And then I saw Peter come and tell them all to shut up, and they were going to jinx him, but then I decided to run in to help and they walked off. But Peter, he was so brave and loyal standing up for you guys..." she smiled. "It was like seeing an entirely different person, really."

James blinked. "That's... That doesn't sound like Peter. I can't imagine him being brave for anybody."

"Well, he was brave that one time, and he started acting all humble when I asked him about it..." June smiled again. "And he walked me to my Common Room to make sure I'd be okay. He can be pretty romantic if he tries."

"See?" Alice hissed to Frank. "Peter was romantic and he barely had a moment's notice."

"Peter's not that normal," he whispered back, and Alice did a face-palm.

June looked at James, anger back into her eyes. "There. I told you about me and Peter, now you need to tell me about you and Lily."

"I didn't shag her!" James said loudly, and the Great Hall fell quiet, all of them staring at him. He made a face and stood up, pointing his wand to his throat.

"James, what are you doing?" Lily hissed, but James ignored her.

"I would like to clear up any rumors about me and Lily, here," he said, his voice echoing throughout the hall due to his wand. "I didn't shag her, she didn't shag me, there was no shagging activities of any kind going on!"

"Potter! Be quiet!" one of the professors shouted, but James ignored them.

"Further more, she didn't slip me a Love Potion! If anything, I would have slipped _her_ a Love Potion!" The hall broke out into excited whispers at this shout, and James sighed.

"Did you hear that?"

"He slipped her a Love Potion!"

"SHUT UP!"

James turned to look at Lily, who was now standing next to him. With a small smirk he realized that she didn't need any spells to make her voice extremely loud.

"Is it so hard to believe that James and I just happen to both have crushes on one another? That we _like _one another without the use of anything magical?" she asked. "I didn't try manipulating his emotions over what happened last night, I didn't try seducing him, I was clueless, we were both tired of bullshit, so we told one another about our damn feelings to get it off our chests! Now, _shut the fuck up_!" Fuming, she sat back down. The Great Hall sat in shock before somebody at the Ravenclaw table let out a nervous laugh, and slowly the Hall became abuzz with talk.

"Damn," Frank said, in shock.

James, however, grinned at Lily's outburst. "You, Lily Evans, are amazing."

* * *

And that, my friends, is how James and Lily got together- in this story, at least. Now, for some good news, some bad news, and some reviews. (See what I did there?)

Bad News:

I've thought about it a lot, and I'm finishing the Family. I started it when I had *no* writing skill and now, the idea of rewriting it all for it to make sense, and to cover up plot holes, gives me a headache. Now, said plot holes and the numerous characters also give me a headache when I write it. So this will be the last update of the Family, unless I change my mind someday, or post an epilogue to wrap everything up nicely. I may do that, but don't expect it anytime soon.

Good News:

This will NOT be the last of my fanfiction, or the last you hear of The Dramatic Owen-Regulus-Annie love triangle, for that matter. Two reasons- I am considering writing an Annie fic, but it probably won't happen (unless I get really dry of ideas). Next reason, I am going to write the ROSE-ALBUS-OC fic I was planning to write when I finished _this_. And guess who that OC is? A certain granddaughter of a certain favorite of almost everybody.

Now, I'm not sure of the title, but there will seven fics- one for each year at Hogwarts. It will be full of drama and fun and good times and shenanigans (which is becoming my favorite word). But seeing as I'm going to write out the plot BEFORE I write, I hope to avoid annoying plot holes. Cross your fingers, everyone. Feel free to shower me with title ideas in a review or a PM. Also, every now and then, I'll ask for your opinions in writing the story! For instance- I'm planning for a Triwizard Tournament to take place in one of them, so I'll ask who the champion should be out of the three, and if there's a HUGE favor for one and not the other, like 70, 20, 10, I may choose them, but if it's like, 35, 34, 31, I'll go with my own choice. Things like that. (also, if I get those polls working. xD)

Now, for Reviews:

Samablue38: Well, I'm interested that you want the romance to take place. I can see what you mean by it. I'm glad you love it, hope you take the rather abrupt and cheap ending well.

Scarlet Natalia: You know me, I reply to them all (unless they state for me not to reply, which hasn't happened yet). Well, with Owen, he's seen Annie be with a few guys, and he's violently in love with her- how would you feel, if the person you loved got kissed right before your eyes? It would still hurt, even if they rejected that person.

Your yellow flower: Practically, yeah. Sirius and April are horribly stubborn.

Junebugbug96: Haha, I missed your reviews (and your spunky username more, tbh). xD Regulus is a scheming jerk.

*Blank* : It was blank, so this is to that non-username out there! You're making me egotistical, saying it's the best lily-james out there. :)

Alice Angel: Well, thanks. ^-^

Shadowlight273: Hope this chapter answered your question. Regulus took advantage of Annie's current state of pure terror, even if he was unawares of it (slightly).

Now, this is 26, signing off.

:3

UPDATE: OKAY, SO MY NEW STORY HAS STARTED. IT IS CALLED, "The Golden Trinity and the Desdemona Thief". The title will make more sense later on, but go check it out for now! I'm super excited to get back to writing for it, I took a break just to update this!


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